The Republican and Democratic National Conventions are coming quickly, and it seems fairly certain who will be the nominees for president. Donald Trump is the only Republican candidate left standing, and by default is the Republican nominee for president. There are still two candidates left on the Democratic side, but it seems fairly certain that Hillary Clinton will win both the popular vote and the delegate count, making her the Democratic nominee for president. Social media reacted badly to the news, with many people bashing Donald Trump for his xenophobic, sexist remarks and ideas, and calling Hillary Clinton corrupt, a flip-flopper, and a criminal. The overall consensus is that "we have to pick the lesser of two evils, and we don't like that."
It's a valid complaint, one that I've had since Bernie Sanders lost the New York primary. But, I have to ask: where were these people during the primaries?
I understand that the primary system is incredibly flawed, and in the past has lead to the most extreme people voting on each side. Most states have closed primaries, making it so that Independents and those without a party affiliation cannot choose who they want to run for President. In New York, voters were purged from the system and due to restrictive voting laws, it was hard for Independents to register for a certain party. It can be extremely confusing at times, and therefore not everyone is capable of voting during the primaries.
That's another rant for another day, because many people were capable of voting and chose not to. This process has been going on for months, and there have been plenty of non-Hillary and non-Trump nominees on both sides. It was possible for many people to change their affiliations and show up to vote for the candidate they actually wanted to run. If you didn't like Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, you could have researched the other candidates and found someone who you did like. So many people discussed on social media about how they hate Trump or love another candidate, yet didn't show up to vote.
The problem is, many people on social media will complain about who they have to choose between in November but failed to do anything about the nominations back when they had a chance to change things. It's hard to complain on social media when there were people who worked hard on a losing candidate's campaign, just for you to ignore them when it was actually time to vote.
Like it or not, both Hillary and Trump received the most amount of votes, because their supporters went out to vote in the primaries. Many of those who complain on social media could have gone out too. This is a lesson about how primary elections matter, and give voters the chance to decide who they want to run so that people aren't just voting for who they hate the least come November. It is possible to have a candidate run that you feel passionate about, who you vote for because you truly think that they're the best fit for our country. Sitting at home and complaining on Twitter won't do anything.
Next time, go out and vote.
