2016 is sure to be an interesting election year, but certainly a difficult one for anyone who finds themselves in the middle of the political spectrum. There’s a whole host of candidates out there for people on either side of the party lines...but not as much for someone who lies in the middle. That’s why I put together this nifty guide to how to conquer the 2016 election.
Hillary Clinton
Hillary, the Democratic frontrunner (more on this later) has been gunning for this for awhile, and has been defeated last in 2008 by Barack Obama. She is a very established, safe, liberal choice, and most of her views line up with classic leftist voters. However, she has some shadiness about her. If you haven’t heard about the Benghazi scandal or the email scandal (“like with a cloth?”), then you have quite a bit of research to do on Secretary Clinton. She also has a very questionable foreign policy record, and also lied about her Iraq war vote years later. She’s very gung-ho on jumping into war, something that most moderates are very wary of. And, she’s slipping in her lead on Bernie Sanders every day, so who wants to be on a sinking ship?
Bernie Sanders
Speaking of Bernie...who couldn’t love that face? Bernie has, for most moderates, a solid social issues voting record, having consistently voted for civil liberties and rights before it was cool (if you’re into that sort of thing). He also has a sense of authenticity about him, an area where Clinton is very lacking. Where Bernie should scare you, though, is the economic standpoint. His multitude of extreme government spending packages (FREE STUFF) would without a doubt deepen the budget deficit and negatively impact the market for bond marketers and creditors for years after his programs are enacted. Overall, Bernie is a better option than Hillary, but still a scary choice for president.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump is without a doubt the most left-leaning conservative candidate (this is the part where I get sued for an unpopular opinion). However, aside from his relative non-interventionalism and strong economic issues (he supports lower taxes on the middle class and higher on the 1%), his social policies are abrasive to say the least. Even taking away the out-of-context quotes the media repeats to death, he has some views that are pretty hard to justify. Given his past Democratic voting record, I have come to the conclusion that his current “beliefs” are just part of a big joke because he’s bored.
Jeb Bush
Poor, sweet Jeb (!).After being considered the frontrunner for quite a while, Jeb slowly fell out of contention. Between his wild swings at Trump during most debates that fall flat, and the connections to his brother that he seemed unable to escape, Jeb has had a rough time of it so far. His ad campaign seemed to be aimed mostly at gaining sympathy for him (poor, sweet Jeb!), and there's news that he might be dropping out of the race soon, and you have to wonder what this sweet teddy bear of a man might be doing after this. Maybe he'll hang out in his brother's presidential library. There's no way to know for sure.
Conclusion
So, after this short guide to your 2016 candidates, you may find yourself asking, what are those in the middle of the spectrum to do? The answer is simple; give up. Embrace the disenfranchisement. Stop caring about politics. Don’t pay attention. It’s obviously what they want, and we don’t stand a chance against them. They don’t need to cater to us, they cater to the extremes.
P.S. Vote independent.
