When I turned 18 last year being able to vote was honestly the thing I was least excited about. Not that I was opposed to it, more like I was indifferent. A perk of being an adult. Politics has never been an area of extreme interest to me, that is, until this election year. In my high school civics class, I paid enough attention to the pre-election coverage to understand that Hillary was most likely going to be the democratic candidate, and the republican side had no idea what they were going to do.
My opinions are very different now. While I haven't been following this election extremely close, it's become impossible to not pay attention to it. And that can be perceived as a good thing or a bad thing; it's great that people my age are getting involved with politics, we're helping to shape our own future. On the other hand, we're paying attention for all the wrong reasons.
It's pretty safe to say that the 2016 election so far has been, excuse my language, a shit show. When the republicans finally did decide on a candidate, they chose, in my opinion, the worst person possible. Donald Trump would not make a good president. Period. I'm sorry if you do support him but in my own opinion, my biggest fear is him becoming president. Because I am honestly afraid of what he might do. He's proven himself on countless occasions to be a sexist, a racist, and a liar. At this point, I'm not even sure if he believes all of what he's saying, or if he just says things he knows will get him attention. He's like a 10 year old child acting out in class; he'll say or do whatever it takes to make people pay attention to him.
Don't mistake my bashing Trump as being pro-Hillary, I don't plan on voting for her either. She's done some shady deals in the past with her charity, the Clinton Foundation, and of course the whole deal with the deleted emails. Hillary herself has not been completely honest about everything she has said. In terms of feminism, she is not a good representation of what we stand for, and while I desperately want our next president to be a woman, I would prefer it not be her. In all honesty, I was extremely disappointed when she was declared the democratic nominee.
Most everyone I know, myself included, will not be voting for either of the two main parties because we are not at all satisfied with our choices. We've been given the options of a bigoted megalomaniac or someone who has performed shady deals on multiple occasions.
There is, however, a third and fourth option. I, like many of my friends, will be voting third party this election and I highly encourage others to do the same. The two party system is ancient. We are one of the only countries left in the world that still operates like this, and it's time we upgraded. If you aren't happy with the two main candidates, then vote for someone else. Educate yourself on people like Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. Even if a third party candidate doesn't win, it will be enough to start a change, to start allowing them at debates and to have them involved. We're supposed to live in a democracy, power to the people and all that jazz. We have the ability to make a difference.
