Just like many people in colleges around the country, I am old enough to vote in my first presidential election, and it is finally an election year. I remember turning eighteen two years ago and looking forward to this year and having my mind wander and wonder who would be the lucky candidates I get to help decide between for my country. I also remember sitting in my History classes learning about all of the influential elections in our country’s history, hoping that my vote would be a part of something bigger than me, a part of a decision that would reverberate around the country, possibly even the world. Needless to say, this year’s election has me sorely disappointed.
As the months went by and I turned nineteen and twenty years old, I watched all of the candidates start to campaign and debate. Like most others I thought, “Trump is a joke, Hillary is a liar, Bernie has the college kids, Cruz doesn’t seem to have enough votes”, and so on and so forth. Then, it came down to the two we see today and I am at a loss for words. Two impulsive liars, two people that I thought would never receive their respective parties’ nominations, yet, here we are. The past twelve months have been a roller coaster for someone who has been listening for the first time, due to it being their first election. These are the three major thoughts I came away with:
This is a media maelstrom, and whoever wins the media wins the nomination
This one may seem a bit obvious to some, yet also a mystery to others. Being a journalism major and having begun to dive into the world that is media, I can clearly see how the candidates have wrestled for attention and how the media has portrayed each candidate. It is no secret that media outlets are endlessly biased, but I have learned that bias isn’t a problem; as long as a candidate is getting covered, the audience will talk about the candidate, which is exactly what they want. Simply, any publicity is good publicity. And it goes without saying that the king of bad publicity is Donald Trump; this man has ruled the airwaves with an iron fist with his ridiculous quotes and his endless polarizing ideals. I stopped to wonder why candidates such as Ben Carson or Marco Rubio weren’t getting as much attention as Trump, and it was because he was hogging the media with his comments. Even though Mr. Trump’s comments are literally awful sometimes, he still had the media’s attention, meaning the other candidates did not have the media’s attention, and eventually had to drop out of the race due to not garnering enough interest in their respective campaigns.
People listen to only what they want to hear, killing citizen debates
This is another observation that may go without saying, but this election is perhaps one of, if not the most polarizing election this country has seen in decades. We have a strong, if not ludicrous candidate for the Republican Party in Donald Trump, and we have a strong yet, also ludicrous candidate for the Democratic Party in Hillary Clinton. These two people have ruled the media and caused so many ripples in everyone from college kids to their grandparents, most people endlessly love one candidate and detest the other to the point of protests and violence. There are also people that hate both candidates, but it seems like we indecisive few may have to make a choice soon. Yet, what saddens me the most is that, because most people hate one candidate endlessly and love the other undeniably, all debate is gone. There are only a select few people that I am able to truly debate with on their views and their views on the presidential race no matter how differing they are with mine. Everyone else will perhaps start to debate, but argue, become irrational, yell, threaten, and just walk away if they do not hear what they want to hear. Meaningful debate among the citizens seems dead in my experience, and I would like to have my assertion proven wrong for the next election.
The World is not going to end no matter who wins
Returning to the idea of the fact that this election is absurdly polarized, no matter who wins this election, America will not fall apart. Now this is an easy observation, yet one I feel I need to make. Our country has seen bad presidents before, and our country will see bad presidents again. Not everyone who sits behind the desk in the oval office can be an Abraham Lincoln, a George Washington, or a Franklin Delano Roosevelt. I remember both eight and four years ago when Barack Obama won his two elections, I knew people that were saying he was going to drive this country into the ground, and that life as we know it in America was going to be over. All I have to say to that is, guess what; we are still here! Barack Obama’s lasting impression as a president will only be decided in due time, but the fact of the matter is that he tried his best for eight long years, and America is still standing proudly. No matter how incompetent some may feel that Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton are, whoever wins the election will not kill America, and four to eight years are going to go by and we are going to look back and see a country older and wiser. Only then will we be able to tell if they were truly a bad president or not.
The nicest way to put this years’ presidential race is to call it interesting. When I turned 18, I was looking forward to debating with my friends, watching the candidates on TV and learning their stances on matters that are important to me, and helping decide the future of this country. Yet, what I have been a part of is a media circus led by 5-second headlines and tweets from anyone and everyone who has an opinion. Now I know this is my first election and that I have may more to go through in my life time, so I sincerely hope that in four years’ time, something changes. I want to be able to debate in a civil manor, witness candidates that are truthful and genuine, and help my country choose the right candidate. Sadly, I feel that this is wishful thinking; only time will tell.
