The end is near for election season. The end is near for debates and campaigning and endless news stories about awful things both sides have done.
So, with Super Tuesday a week away, stop telling people who to vote for and stop judging people based on who they will (or who you think they will) vote for. This election is arguably one of the worst in American history. We have a democrat with a not-so-great history as Secretary of State, and we have a republican with no history at all (except on reality TV). We have two third party candidates, and there are still "Bernie or bust" people hanging around.
Let's start with Clinton and Trump. Clinton supporters, stop asking Trump supporters how they could possibly vote for him. Trump voters, stop asking Clinton voters how they could possibly vote for her. Both choices are bad choices. I don't care how you spin it. Clinton supporters can talk about Trump's comments about Mexicans and women, about his sexual assault comments, or about his indictment for raping a 13-year-old girl. Trump supporters can bring up Benghazi, her emails, or her defense of her husband's sexual assault allegations. When you put both candidates side by side with those arguments, the future looks bleak. But, both sides still have agendas. They have plans for the economy, immigration, military, etc. In the end, most Republicans will vote along with their opinions, and most democrats will vote along with theirs. At this point, what else is there to look for?
Then there are those people who couldn't imagine voting for either. Third party supporters and Bernie supporters are very much around. Libertarian Gary Johnson is on the ballot in all 50 states. Stop telling voters that a third party vote is a "wasted" vote. Does anyone remember Abraham Lincoln? He was a third party candidate. One of the biggest problems with our democracy is the two party system. Our government wants to give us this idea of red or blue, nothing in between. In reality, most people don't just hang left or right. There are many people who are moderate or lean towards one side but agree with points on then other. Third party candidates represent those people. Third party candidates represent most of us. The odds of a third party candidate winning this year are slim. But just imagine if every person who said "Oh they won't win, so I'm voting for..." actually voted for that person. Our generation can be the generation to shatter the two-party system once and for all. If you want to be the difference, do it. And if you don't, it's not okay to try and tell someone they can't vote the way they want because you don't believe in changing the status quo.
Vote for who your views align with, not who society tells you to vote for. We have the individual right to vote and you have the individual right to choose who you vote for. The opinion is yours, not the opinion of everyone else. And if you are one of the people who think it's going to work to constantly compare Trump and Clinton to sway someone's opinion, please for the love of all of our Facebook timelines, just stop. At this point, vote because it's your civic duty, your privilege, your right as an American. Vote because you're passionate about the candidate, vote because it's the lesser of two evils, vote because you can't stand to see someone in office, vote because you want to change things. Just vote, and let everyone else vote the way they want.
