Meandering around a college campus, it’s clear every university boasts a diverse, vibrant amalgamation of people. The easiest way to categorize people, as we love to do , is by asking, “What are you?” referring (hopefully) to their major. While asking one’s major is the quintessential introduction at college, most people have probably already made a flash judgment about it. Are they sleep-deprived? Pre-med or engineer. Ray-Bans and a beard? Maybe philosophy. Are their laptops plastered with campaign stickers and do they look like they’re about to give a belligerent plug for Bernie or Rubio any second? Definitely political science.
Despite this, I’m probably the worst political science major, because the lid of my laptop is completely blank. I like to throw people off, as I have a tech company logo next to my keyboard but I struggle with basic computer skills, like plugging in an HDMI cable. I fit the mold insofar as I aggressively share Facebook articles and consider the debates on par with binge-watching Netflix, but I lack any sort of “Bernie 2016!” or “I’m with Her” sticker.
This isn’t to say I’m apathetic. I certainly have strong views. If you’re wondering what side of the political spectrum I fall on, all I’ll say is that I own a pair of Birkenstocks, and that I’ve been described as “granola.” However, despite how important I find voting, and how vested I am in the 2016 election, I have yet to fill out my absentee ballot for the NC primary because I have no idea whom I support.
Kate McKinnon, portraying Hillary on SNL, artfully described Bernie Sanders as “a human Birkenstock.” While this was supposed to be disparaging, it only further endeared me toward him. I took an “I Side With” quiz online — obviously the most reliable way to determine who will run out country — and in an unsurprising turn of events, I side 83 percent with Bernie.
However, I remain cognizant of the fact that I love Bernie because of what he can do for me. It doesn’t really affect me if he hikes up taxes, because as I prepare to enter the job market, clutching my political science degree, his redistributive socialist programs will totally help me out. While his free college tuition won’t really affect me as it doesn’t change private school tuition, I’m not being taxed to fund it, so I don’t really care. Similarly, he articulates his beautifully progressive social views in a manner that suggests they are genuine, as opposed to Hillary’s seemingly convenient flip-flopping.
Many are therefore surprised that despite my ideological agreement with Bernie, and my perspective that he genuinely adheres to the image of himself he projects, he doesn’t automatically have my vote.
I am one person in over 300 million. While I would love to have a human Birkenstock in the oval office, they’re just not everyone’s footwear of choice. Although he appeals to me most on a personal level, this doesn’t mean he’s best for the job.
Do I question Hillary’s motives at times? Of course. I wonder whether she supports social issues, like the Black Lives Matter movement, ending mass incarceration, and climate change, with the genuine voracity Bernie does. Unfortunately, authentic compassion does not translate into political clout. I believe Hillary is a true progressive, but those who don’t claim her personal ideology is much more conservative than she’d have us think. Even if you believe this, I wonder to what extent the true ideological leanings of the president matter insofar as they carry out their platform proposals.
To illustrate this, we have to consider the issue of the black vote.
Bernie notoriously has trouble getting the black vote, seemingly paradoxically due to his progressive rhetoric. However, his ideology doesn’t translate into policies with the same ease that Hillary’s does. As a white person, he may sound great on black issues to me, but Hillary’s legacy — perhaps deserved, perhaps not — is that of one who speaks up for black voters, whether it be through improving representation in the cabinet or supporting affirmative action.
Sure, she may have supported tough-on-crime legislation, but she’s progressed since then (however weak an argument that may be), and there remains some evidence that some black voters actually appreciated this. An argument can therefore be made that while Bernie did a fantastic job participating in civil rights rallies, Hillary used her influential position to get the job done.
You can debate back and forth over who is more progressive, who will be better for the country, and who should get the Democratic nomination. That’s probably why I’m still so undecided.
However, remember that the office of the president requires more than just being a charismatic leader and knowing the best things to say — though President Obama has proven this is a valuable asset. Instead, we need to take a much more critical approach to the issue of voting and consider that while their rhetoric appeals to you, the other candidate may have the better policies for a particular issue.
At the very least, the takeaway from this piece can be that politics sucks. Let’s just try to play the game better than the politicians.
