Imagine you’re back in your high school government class. It’s that annoying day where you have to model a political debate. A week earlier you were split up into teams and had to do research on the political viewpoint you were assigned. There are four teams: Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, and Green Party. The Republican and Democrat representatives immediately glare at each other without shaking hands. Next, they greet the third party candidates with an air of entitlement. Throughout the debate, no punches are held back. The pro-choice Democrat representative is called a baby killer. The Green Party representative is called a hippy-dippy liberal. The Libertarian candidate is accused of being weak on policy for trying to please everyone. The Republican candidate is called old fashioned and unrealistically behind the times. By the time the debate is finished students are angry, saying things that aren’t even relevant to the debate or the policies being discussed.

This is the political climate we live in.

Long gone are the days where candidates can look at issues from each other’s point of view. There is no shaking hands, focus on political policies, and no punches are held in attacking campaign adds. Throughout this election, the political climate has only become more and more hostile. At each presidential debate, there have been questions which exposed the candidate's lack of respect for each other,the people trying to moderate their debate, and even the political process.

I don’t think I have to convince you that this election is crucial to the next four years and entire future of our country. Hopefully, I also don’t have to convince you that both candidates could be a lot more respectful towards each other.

The main problem that I’ve personally seen with the potential leaders of our country's lack of respect is it’s trickle down effect on the general public. Go look on Facebook for about 5 minutes and you’ll see some political hate. It seems as though every article shared is preceded by a comment about “crooked Hillary” or “crazy Trump.” I rarely see a comment about an article changing someone’s point of view or a polite disagreeing comment. Instead, you see comments about those voting for Trump being uneducated, racists, and sexists. Those voting for Hillary are called liberal, immoral, and untrustworthy, just like their candidate.

So comments on Facebook are one thing but then there are those in-person conversations.

So the American public selected two candidates. A democrat and a republican. Their entire parties selected them. You shouldn’t be embarrassed to say you’re voting for one or the other. Yet this election cycle a number of times I’ve heard someone say, “I’m voting for ____ but keep that quiet,” is ridiculous. There is so much personal hate going on that those around us tend to be afraid to express their opinion. Instead of asking someone why they believe what they do, we immediately judge them for it. If you ask someone why they think what they think, it usually will start a discussion.

Why is discussion important you might ask?

Every single time you have a discussion with another human being about politics you can learn something. You learn why people believe what they believe. You learn a new way to approach an issue. You learn a new way to interpret information. You can even be pushed to explore why you believe what you believe. These are all positive things if you’re open to listening and respecting another person’s point of view.

What is Respect?

"A feeling of admiring someone or something that is good, valuable, important, etc."

Respect is hard to define. It’s a feeling, a way of looking at something. It’s an acknowledgment that everyone deserves to have an opinion. Respect in politics is hard to come by, no matter who you’re voting for.

In today's political climate what makes someone lose their right to be respected?