I don't know about you, but I'm so done with this election season. In fact, I'm pretty sure I was done about six months ago. Part of me is happy this will be over soon; part of me is furious that this is the first presidential election I get to vote in. When Obama was running, at least all the democrats supported him (for the most part). Hillary, on the other hand, gets lukewarm support from many of us--and believe me, I understand why. Personally, I voted for Bernie, so none of this is my problem. Do I wish he were the nominee? Absolutely. Did I think the DNC rigged the primaries so he lost? Possibly. I try not to get involved with things that sound like conspiracy theories. What I do know is that if more people my age had gone out and voted, he might have won.
The main reason Obama won in 2008 was because young people went out and voted for him. Statistically speaking, we tend to be more liberal, but we also tend to vote less (side note: remember when Sarah Palin was the biggest presidential threat to our country? It was a simpler time back then). Unlike Obama, Hillary's support from millennials is lacking. A lot of us don't like either candidate and are voting third-party. While I understand this is making the moral choice out of a bad situation, the likelihood that a third-party candidate will get elected is practically nonexistent. Like it or not, we're probably getting stuck with one of the two main options.
Worse, however, are the people who are choosing not to vote at all. Look, I get it: both cases suck. I know everyone is sick of the "lesser of two evils" rhetoric, but for some people, that's what it'll come down to. Looking at it from that perspective, there's clearly a better option. Hillary doesn't seem very trustworthy, but at least she has experience. Trump is that sixth-grade kid who runs for student body president claiming he's going to put Kool-Aid in the water fountains and make every weekend three days long without actually explaining how any of that is actually going to be accomplished. Not to mention the fact that he's made countless sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and even incestuous comments, the most recent of which being the infamous "pussy-grabbing" remark.
As a woman, especially a disabled woman, I could never vote for a man who openly mocks a physically-disabled reporter and says crude, rude, and lewd things about women on the regular. I'd like to say that anyone who supports him also, at least passively, supports these horrible views he spews. However, I know doing so could risk alienating some of my extended family, so I'll just say we agree to disagree. Say what you want about Hillary, but her views on disability rights are by far the most progressive out of all the candidates. So, yes, in that way, I'm With Her.
And if the fact that I'm voting for Hillary come Tuesday means you don't want to speak to me or see me anymore, so be it. We're all entitled to have our opinions (that is until those "opinions" start hurting people). And if you're still undecided about voting at all, remember that this election isn't just about you; it could seriously negatively impact the lives of many marginalized communities. So, please, I beg you: vote! If not because of me or a sense of decency, because Lewis Black, Aziz Ansari, Louis C.K., Rachel Bloom, and countless other celebrities want you to.
