It’s October, and that means the 2016 Presidential election is just over a month away. I might be a little biased because this is the first presidential election I have a real say in, but it seems to be one of the craziest elections in American history. Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were well-known names before they began running for office. Trump, a wealthy business man (with his own television programs “The Apprentice” and “The Celebrity Apprentice”), and Clinton, former Secretary of state and wife to Bill Clinton. This is the first time for a female candidate to get this far in American politics. Their combined ages are the highest of all time for two presidential nominees, and either candidate would be among the oldest presidents to ever hold office, as we can all see in the many discussions on the candidate's health that have been all over the media. According to recent polls, the race is tight and fluctuating often, and the wild unpopularity of the candidates has caused more casual talk of considering third-party options than there ever has been. Yet, there is a common rebuke against this thought, which can be seen as "throwing your vote away." If one thing is really on the line, it's which party will get the unique opportunity to fill in the empty Supreme Court Justice seat. Aside from the few, strong supporters of either candidate themselves, many Americans are on the fence about which candidate is worthy, or maybe just more worthy than the other, of their precious vote.
According to the Pew Research Center, the top two issues voters see in America right now is the poor economy and the issue of terrorism. Other problems include foreign policy, health care, gun policy, and immigration. And that is only to name a few. Voters are searching for the candidate who will best "solve" these impossible issues for them, and that is a big task to do so for every citizen in America. The first Presidential debate of the 2016 election took place Monday, September 26th. In my opinion, the candidates didn't really get anywhere. Many personal blows were made by each side and many defensive arguments were attempted to cover those up. They talked around many of the issues at hand and left many viewers angry and still feeling like they didn't know everything about what is going on. Clinton was as smiley as ever, and Trump had the same forward spirit. ABC News provides some interesting statistics, including how Trump spoke only about 3 minutes longer than Clinton, but he interrupted her 39 times compared to her 9 times interrupting him. Trump interrupted Clinton about every 2 minutes and 27 seconds, whereas Clinton interrupted Trump about every 10 minutes and 36 seconds. Whatever the tactics here were, they were carried out quite obviously.
What will happen by the time November comes around? No one really knows. A month is a long amount concerning this presidential race. One question remains: which candidate can do what is best for America as a whole?
