I usually don’t write about politics, but this election is so absurd that I feel the need to jump on the bandwagon and put in my two cents. In many ways, this election is nothing new; the public is offered two candidates that seem hand-picked by lobbyists, corporations and banks. And the public finds themselves deciding who will be the speaker of our nation based on pre-written speeches and campaign slogans. Because of my age, I have only been able to vote in a few elections. And although they are always incredibly polarized, this election peaks my interest because it is somewhat different. Both times Obama was elected, the public had very polarized views. Some people hated him while others loved him. A lot of people didn’t’ even understand or research why they felt the way they did, they just voted based on political affiliation or personal bias. But at least it got the public to go out and vote.

This election, however, seems a little bit different. The general population is still very polarized, and the majority of people will vote for the candidate that represents their political party, but this time it seems like everyone is united. Not because everyone is in agreement about which candidate is better, but because it seems like everyone agrees that the two candidates we have to choose from are garbage. If so many people are in agreement that we are scraping the bottom of the barrel for president, then how do they make it this far? Well, it really isn’t all that complicated, and the answer is money.

Politicians in this country rely on lobbyists, donations and personal funds to get themselves in the public eye. When lobbyists from certain groups fund the candidate of their choice, that person then makes sure that they have policies that help that group. It is nearly impossible for a person to become a serious candidate without large sums of money, because without the money they don’t get media attention. Bernie Sanders had a massive amount of people that supported him, he even received massive amounts of funding, but he still didn’t have enough to compete with Hillary and Donald for media attention. Third party votes have also always seemed like a great alternative to the two party system, but many people feel like if they vote third party, that they are throwing away their vote. It is almost a catch 22, because without an incredible amount of people voting for a third party, it is a wasted vote. But by thinking that, there will never be enough people willing to vote that way.

The candidates in this election are terrible in my opinion, and many of my fellow Americans agree with this sentiment. Since the election is getting closer every day, the media and candidates are starting to get more cut throat in their approaches. Hillary’s advertisements on TV don’t mention any of his policies, they are usually attacking things he has said or things that others have said about him. Most of the media has taken Hillary’s side, and are unified in using the stance that “Donald Trump is a racist, bigot, sexist, etc.” Although many people said they would never vote for her, they are changing their minds rapidly since Trump has become an actual possibility. As the days go on, it seems that the odds of Donald Trump winning are diminishing pretty rapidly, and his lack of campaign ads and personal attacks towards Hillary, would suggest that he is feeling the same way. Last year there were so many Republicans saying that they would never vote for Trump, but much like certain Democrats on the left, they are changing their minds since they realize he is the Republican candidate. When both sides have a ton of voters basing their choices on the “lesser of two evils” premise, we have a serious problem.

If anything, this election is showing me that if we as a people ever decided to stand up and take a third party vote seriously, that maybe it would force both sides to put better candidates in front of us. The banks, government and corporations like the two party system because it divides the people. There are enough lobbyists supporting each side, that regardless of who wins, they know that some aspect of their wealth and power will be safe. The way that our voting system works, I’m not even that sure that our votes matter anymore. It seems as if the people don’t actually have a say in the decision. But if we all stand together, and say “I’m not voting for EITHER of these choices”, and we create an overwhelming amount of votes for a third party, maybe we can create the change we all want. Maybe it is just a dream that will never happen, but this election has shown me that the worst of candidates can make it to the top if we don’t speak up, and we haven’t said enough yet.