With the last major day of democratic state primaries having passed, the prospect of Hillary Clinton being the 2016 Democratic nominee is almost a guarantee. If you've read any of my past articles, know me personally, or know my timeline, then this will come as a great shock that I've done some more research on Hillary and Trump to find that even though I strongly distrust Hillary, she is a much better option than Donald Trump. I have written articles about why we should be afraid of Hillary, given talks to people in classes about why Bernie was our only hope, and why we shouldn't be ready for Hillary; however, at this point I think it's about time to dismantle the "Bernie or Bust" mentality.
Bernie was the hero of many millennials. He believed in ideals that would directly help us: minimum wage increases, pulling out troops, and eliminating rising healthcare and college costs. Hillary does not have the exact same stances on these issues. So why change your mind to voting for Mrs. Clinton?
1. The Two Party System
In America we have a rigid two party system, as we are all aware. As of now, Hillary and Trump are the two most viable choices that we have for president in November. With the #BernieOrBust movement growing in strength, it becomes even more necessary to unite the Democratic Party since a large split will inevitably give Trump the presidency.
2. The Issues*
Bernie Sanders is hailed as being a progressive hero, but in all honesty Hillary Clinton has become almost equally progressive in her viewpoints. Many Bernie supporters are concerned over the costs of healthcare and college, environmental decay, economic inequality and hot button social issues.
LGBT issues: Hilary Clinton has been endorsed by the Human Rights Campaign (one of the largest LGBT charities in the country). The Human Rights Campaign helped to push the Marriage Equality case in the United States, and an endorsement by this charity can only mean that the endorsee belongs to the cause. Hillary is committed to enforcing the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment for every person in America, including those identifying as LGBT+. She is also committed to battling the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Race issues: Hillary vows to end the "school-to-prison pipeline" where schools are disproportionately targeting students of color with expulsions, suspensions and harsh punishments across the country. These students fall behind in school, have a diminished drive for academic success and especially in rougher areas of the country can turn to crime. Hillary vows to spend $2 billion to support schools. Hillary also plans to spend resources to train police officers to dismantle unintentional bias and de-escalation techniques to cut down on absurd police brutality.
Economic issues: Hillary plans to raise the federal minimum wage to $12/hour, which falls short of Bernie's promise of $15/hour, but Hillary's plan would be more viable to be passed by congress and turned into law. She plans to cut taxes for working class and middle class families as well as raising taxes on the wealthy, but with less socialized welfare programs, the aspiration to be wealthy will not be diminished with absurd taxes.
Abortion: One thing that Hillary and Bernie both solidly agree upon is that a woman always has the right to choose. This is an important factor to many people, but may be a breaking point for moderate republicans who morally disagree with abortion. Hillary takes the stand of bodily autonomy instead of body regulation.
3. Hillary Is The Most Qualified
With Bernie essentially out of the picture, Hillary is the most qualified candidate left. This election cycle marks Trump's first time ever running for a political office. Even though he has donated loads of money to political campaigns and politicians themselves, he himself has never dabbled first-hand in politics. Hillary Clinton was a wonderful Secretary of State to President Obama, a renowned senator from New York, and a helpful First Lady to her husband Bill. Hillary has been fighting for women's and children's rights since the beginning, and her track record has always been to help out women in every way possible. Hillary has the most time spent and most legislation passed out of Trump and Bernie (even though Bernie is out of it essentially); therefore, it's almost a no brainer to give her your support.
4. A Final Message
I was the biggest supporter of Senator Sanders since his campaign began as a rogue political outcry over a year ago. However, at this point it's time we decide that beating Trump is worth more than pursuing a radical stance. The revolution will happen, and a Hillary administration will only extend the influence of Obama's achievements. If Trump is elected, then all of Obama's progress will be lost and the revolution will be stopped dead in its tracks.
#HillYes
*All of the information can be found on Hillary's campaign site.
