November’s upcoming Presidential election will decide the person who is undoubtedly most fit to run the United States of America. When I was younger, each election was intriguing, because I knew little to nothing about the election process. When Obama ran for his second term in 2012, I had a small sense of how our country is actually put together, and I learned a bit about each political party’s views. The feeling of excitement and passion for my country felt strong, even though I was far too young to actually vote.
I grew up in a mainly Democratic household, so most Republican candidates (Mitt Romney at the point of the 2012 election) were placed in a negative light. This somewhat biased who I wanted to win each debate and each election, because I didn’t know any better about the ongoing issues in the country at the time. Therefore, my seventh-grader vote went to Barack Obama. The best part of the election was the presidential debates, because even though I had little idea what Obama and Romney were talking about, the debates were intense and each candidate spoke with passion for their topic, and the candidates were honorable towards each other despite having different views, a quality I believe is paramount in a commander-in-chief. Watching those debates was truly a historical event in my life.
Now in the year 2016, I am much older and though I don’t make politics my number one focus, I am still aware of what is happening both in the country and world-wide. That excitement from the 2012 election should return, however it doesn’t, at least not in the right way. This year’s election is seriously a disappointment, not only because I missed the voting age by less than a year, but because even if I had the ability to vote I would find myself at a standstill. It saddens me that our country has narrowed down one the choices for its future leaders down to Donald Trump. It is not even because of his political standpoint, it is simply because of the type of person Trump is. The first presidential debate Monday night further proved this.
Unlike debates from previous elections, this one just seemed like child’s play. Towards the middle and end of the debate, it seemed like rather than focusing on the actual topics asked by moderator Lester Holt, the candidates (Trump especially) used the event to continue attacking each other.
The focus of a debate is to beat your opponent, however the goal should be to talk about the topics at hand, and this debate was basically a series of bashing on each other by each candidate, (not to mention that ABC News actually put a newsflash on the screen during the debate which proved what Trump was saying to be false). It was a dishonorable display. Though Hillary Clinton stayed composed throughout, some of her answers regarding her past were just downright untrustworthy. Hillary was actually my favorite to beat Obama for the Democratic nomination in 2008, and even today I still believe she is a million times more fit to lead our nation than Trump, however despite her knowledge and overall political prowess her recent activity over the past four years has damaged her popularity throughout this country.
The point is that this election has been a joke so far, and it pains me to think about how other major world powers see the United States following this election. It pains me to even think someone like Trump can reach this far in an election that is the major indication of our country’s future, the reality of it all is scary to think about. You probably think that Kanye 2020 was a joke however at this point I would not even put that past our country.
After viewing this first debate, I simply cannot take pride in watching the candidates running for commander in chief of this country, and I believe the USA is better than this.
