I told myself that after my most recent article, that I would not speak on the election anymore. It has gone above and beyond what I can mentally and emotionally comprehend. However, recent events have touched me in a way that I never expected a presidential election to do and I think that it's worth sharing.

I want to preface this by saying that I have no undying loyalty to either candidate. I genuinely want to put aside political bias for a few minutes to write this as I hope you can while reading it.

During election seasons, we start to see the politicians as robots: motivated by money and power. Their families become backdrops or decorations for their campaign and just like everything else that is kept at the forefront of the media for too long, it becomes less and less real to us. They wake up, run for office, go to sleep, and do it again.

But what about the in-between?

I think that I might just be hyper-empathetic but I wonder pretty regularly about how Obama's daughters are doing in school or if the publicity gets old for them. I wonder about Donald Trump's wife and if she gets tired of having to speak a language she doesn't fully understand and act as if she's the most confident woman in the room when she's probably actually a little terrified. I wonder what Monica Lewinsky thinks when she logs on to a computer to find memes, videos, and articles mocking and shaming her for something that she did over 20 years ago. If you really think about it, these people probably need a long vacation and a hug.

These thoughts are more prominent to me now as the 2016 election has taken a very hostile turn from "Here's why I'll be a good president" to "Here's why he/she would be the worst president." Campaigns are full of digs on policy and personality. This is not new to American politics. What is new is the pure evil coming from this election. It goes from small things like interrupting one another on stage, calling each other "idiots" or "deplorable" all the way to attacking the spouse and children of the other candidate. And that's what I want to write about.

For the second presidential debate of 2016 , Donald Trump had 3 women that have had some sort of inappropriate relationship with or have presented accusations toward Bill Clinton in the past come to the debate. Not only did they come to the debate, they walked in at the same time as President Clinton.

And it doesn't even end there:
“We were going to put the four women in the VIP box,” said former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who represents Trump in debate negotiations. “We had it all set. We wanted to have them shake hands with Bill, to see if Bill would shake hands with them.”
(read that article here)

I want to re-emphasize here to temporarily drop political bias (even if parts of the articles are biased. They are solely for quotes and citation purposes).

I want for everybody to imagine with me for a moment what it feels like to have to defend every position you hold - on social, financial, economical, and moral issues - on national television while simultaneously keeping somebody who has been equally preparing counter-arguments at bay. Honestly, I'm a little nervous for all of them just thinking about it.

Now imagine that your spouse had cheated on you and been accused of other acts of infidelity and not only did you have to deal with the consequences in your marriage and the heart-ache of explaining it to your child, but answering to a nation for 20+ years. And then, on potentially one of the most important and nerve-wracking nights of your life, you get to stare into the faces of 3 women who have taken part in destroying you and your family (and regardless of whether you believe accusations or think it was just infidelity, it's still painful either way).

Because of personal experiences inside of my own immediate family and some of the experiences of people close to me, I understand that this is evil unfathomable to somebody who has never encountered this type of relationship. I can't explain to you the mixture of anger, hurt, confusion, and wanting to ask questions, have a conversation, disappear, and hurt somebody all at the same time. It's like your mind implodes and it's physical manifestation is a paralyzed voice and a blank stare.

Hillary Clinton has never been allowed to just be hurt. She was never allowed to lock herself up in a room with her daughter and husband and cry it out before trying to work it out. She was forced to politicize her damaged marriage, her confused and hurting child, and her emotional response in a way that was acceptable for the good ole U.S. of A.

If my family had not been given the time that we needed to properly communicate, heal, and learn to love and trust again, I'm not sure that we would have made it (and I am so thankful every day that we did). When I saw those women on the debate last night, and saw the plan to have them shake hands with her and her family, my heart sank. I saw nothing but very familiar faces and feelings and I physically hurt for her.

But the nation didn't. We saw a woman accused of multiple scandals and opposing views who needed to be "taught a lesson." We saw a politician followed by questionable judgement calls, her husband's past, and anticipating her debate and possible role in the oval office.

I want to use this article to invite you to remember that politicians are still people. They feel just like me and you, but they have to do it publicly. Lastly, and probably most importantly, politicians do not owe you an explanation for their family matters to help make your political decision.