If you have been following the election like I have, you are probably pretty disgusted too at the way things are heading. The 2016 election has gone from a normal political battle to a bloodbath of hate, chaos, and vicious attacks. I have never in all my years of watching the news and following elections seen anything as disgusting and embarrassing as these two candidates bickering about who said what and who did what when. As a young, interested voter and American citizen, I watched the debate Sunday night hoping to learn more about the issues at hand and the ideas posed by each candidate. Did I get that? No, the debate moderator opened the debate with a question posed to Trump about the newly famous "locker room talk" video. As someone who considers myself a Republican, I find this to be humiliating to our party and inexcusable. Calling unwelcome sexual advances toward women "locker room talk" contributes to a culture that allows rape to be glossed over. While I admit this is a serious issue in itself, I was disappointed that the rest of the issues that our country currently faces were also glossed over. After the bloodbath was over, they finally started to talk about the economy, the appointment of a new supreme court justice, immigration, threats to our nation's safety, the environment, and other pressing issues. However, if you care a lot about any of these things, chances are, you may not care for the candidate who will support them. So what is a young millennial voter to do?

If you admit you are for Trump, it is like social suicide, and you will quickly be shot into oblivion with statements like "he's an awful person, how could you possibly vote for him?", or "he is the devil, Satan himself, and if he gets elected we're all moving to Canada." If you say you are voting for Hillary, you might be reminded of the fact that she's proven herself to be a liar, incompetent, and let's not bring up Monica Lewinsky... So do we ditch the polls this year and console ourselves by reading another disgruntled Facebook post or upsetting news story? Do we hopelessly check the box of a sure to lose third party?

I would encourage America not to give up hope. We really don't know what the future holds, but tearing down each candidate right now is not going to give us a brighter future. America is a great nation, and we have been through ups and downs--we can come out of this election stronger, but we are going to have to stop tearing each other down in the process. As divided as our parties may seem, I truly believe we have more in common than we give ourselves credit for. I would advise everyone who is thinking about voting to make a list of the issues that are most important to them and to vote for the candidate who supports them, regardless of what others are saying.

Here in the U.S., we are so blessed with a democracy where we are given the privilege to vote. I think it is important to do so, even if we go into the voting booth holding our noses. Let us not let fear and upsetting comments distract us from the real issues. This 2016 election is crucial to our nation. We can choose to be counted among the fearful or we can choose to be a part of history!