There were a few reasons I was looking forward to this election and finally being able to get the chance to vote. As a criminal justice/political science major, I always try to stay as educated on what's going on in the political world in our country. I love the idea of finally being able to have a say in how the next four years of our country goes. I love having and getting to exercise this right even more simply because of that fact that most country's do not have this right. Which is one of the reasons I firmly believe that America is the greatest country in the world.
Keep in mind that these were my feelings before the parties had nominated their presidential candidates for the 2016 election.
In the early stage of this election, it was not looking so bad. We had more respectable candidates on each side such as Bernie Sanders or Ted Cruz. Neither of these men I agreed with 100 percent, but you're never going to find someone that agrees with everything you think. Having talked with multiple extremely well-educated adults before the primaries, most people did not take Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump seriously and would laugh it off with an "oh, they'll never get the nomination." Well...here we are a couple of months later, and they both did.
To me, this is beyond embarrassing for our country. The fact that this year we have the amazing privilege (eye roll) of getting to choose between a women who's been being investigated by the FBI for the past couple months and a failed business man with little-to-no political background is such a step forward for our country. Not. It's most definitely a couple steps backward. Neither of these candidates are fully respectable leaders. I don't believe that either of them have what it takes to run our country for the next four years and that is a terrible thought for the future of our country. We should have never reached a point in our society where the two parties' nominations are arguing and sharing sarcastic remarks over Twitter or social media at all. "Twitter drama" may be cute and entertaining in middle school or high school but when it comes to the future leaders of our country it is 100 percent unacceptable.
I am not excited to exercise my right to vote in this election anymore. With that said, although I am not satisfied with my options, I will still be voting. I believe that even if we are stuck between choosing the lesser or two evils, it is still important to vote. Every vote truly does make a difference. Although I do not fully support either of these candidates, there is one that I am leaning more towards. Not because I respect them as a person, but because a few (take that with a grain of salt) of their ideas are ideas that I share as well.
I'm sure everyone is fed up with all the political rants that are being shared with the upcoming election being so close, but I challenge you to remember why we have the right to vote in the first place and why it is such an important right to take advantage of. Even if you do not particularly like either of our current candidates, we should still be having a say in our government. My thought process has now moved on from who's going to have the best, most productive four years in office, to which candidate is going to cause the least damage in the next four years that will hopefully be able to be fixed with more qualified options in the next election.
