This year’s presidential election brought out the worst for many Americans. Emotions ran high, and Americans were more than willing to share their opinion through various social media platforms. While sharing of ideas and opinions is a vital aspect of American democracy, there is a problem with outright bashing and scapegoating people because of their political views. This election most of Donald Trump and Hilary Clinton’s supporters were quick to blame one group of voters: third party voters. Both of Trump and Clinton’s supporters told third party voters that they were wasting their votes and unless they voted for one of the major party candidates.
Many of Clinton’s supporters took to social media to express their frustration with third party voters after her loss to president-elect Trump. They discussed wasted votes, how a third party vote was basically a vote for Trump and how third party voters were responsible for Trump’s win. There are many aspects that are incorrect about those statements and are just plain hurtful to democracy.
A problem with blaming Clinton’s loss on third party voters is that Clinton supporters assume a third party voter would vote for Clinton if they had to choose between Clinton and Trump. Only 25 percent of Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson favored Clinton according to exit polls from Real Clear Politics. This shows that even if all of Stein’s votes went to Clinton instead, Trump still would have won the electoral college. Fifty-five percent of Johnson voters and 61 percent of Stein voters said they would not vote if they had to choose between Trump and Clinton. Clinton supporters are ignoring the faults in both their candidate and the campaign when they blame Clinton’s loss on third party voters.
Calling a third party voter a spoiler or claiming they are the reason Trump is president is not only wrong but anti-democratic. That kind of philosophy and attitude discourages political activity. It prevents criticism and possible reform of the current two party system. Many Americans used their third party vote to try and bring change to the system. According to Real Clear Politics exit polls, 57 percent of Americans want a third major political party because they are dissatisfied with the established parties’ performances. The 2016 election saw the most unfavorable candidates in history. Trump had a 58 percent who viewed him unfavorably and Clinton had a 60 percent who viewed her unfavorably according to polling by ABC News.
2016 was not an easy year for American politics. It was a nasty, heated election season, but that is no excuse for trashing and scapegoating a group of people based on their political affiliations. It takes away the different opinion and values that make American democracy work. Instead of blaming a group of people for the outcome of the election, as Americans, we should come together to build a better America.
