I remember one day when I was in seventh grade, I was sitting in my math class. There was an announcement on the loudspeaker that ordered all students to go to Ms. Brown’s French classroom so that we could huddle around an old television to witness history in the making as we watched the inauguration of the first black president of the United States. My mind was preoccupied with braces and boys but I knew that was a big deal. That moment would go down in history forever and I had just watched it happen live. The first black President was officially inaugurated and that was a huge step forward for our country in terms of progression and equality.
Obama graduated from Columbia University and then Harvard Law School where he was the President of the Harvard Law Review. Following his education he had an impressive career in law, academics and politics. Obama addressed the Democratic National Convention in 2004 and said, "There's not a liberal America and a conservative America," he declared. "There's a United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America. There's a United States of America." As a young citizen of the U.S., I felt proud to look up to someone who felt that way and wanted to promote unity and opportunity.
This election is taking place in a different time and with a new generation full of millennials like myself. Us millennials can’t wait to have a say, so much so that we are overlooking who we are truly voting for. It was once comical to see jokes about Donald Trump running for president on social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook. The idea got attention quickly because it did not make sense. Why would a known real estate tycoon bother with running for president? He had no political experience, no true understanding of worldly issues, and no reason to run a campaign. With all the qualified politicians in the world, why would Donald Trump need to be an option?
The answer, simply put, was because he could be. Campaigns are expensive, but do you know who’s got money? Trump. It became cool and seemingly badass to run for something as important as President just because you were rich enough to afford it.
Trump’s opposing candidate, Hillary Clinton of the Democratic party graduated from Wellesley College and went on to earn a law degree from Yale Law School. She has experience as an attorney, a politician and was even the first lady of the U.S. for eight years. Even with Clinton’s experience, it has not been enough to sway many young voters. There are many alleged skeletons in Clinton’s closet that are holding her back from winning votes. She has been accused of leaking emails with confidential information in them, covering up rape, and various other offenses that may lead some to be skeptical of her legitimacy.
Someday our children will sit together in class and settle in as their teacher welcomes them to school for the day. They will be instructed to open their history books to a certain page and begin reading about the train wreck that was the presidential election of 2016.
The candidates themselves play a huge role in this infamous election, I often wonder how it came down to a businessman and a former first lady under FBI investigation when there were other qualified candidates in the running. A major factor in this situation is technology. More specifically: easy access to social media.
Our generation has a voice like no other has had before. It doesn’t take a podium with a large audience for your opinion to be heard, rather 140 characters that you can type into a Tweet and just like that, your voice is out there to be heard. All it took was for an Instagram account such as @oldrowofficial with a large following to find Donald Trump’s power trip entertaining, so they decided to endorse him and trash Hillary. Their hundreds of thousands of followers are mostly college kids because that is their niche, and guess who’s old enough to vote? College kids.
The Clinton camp is not without their social media presence as well. Movie star Chloe Grace Moretz is a huge advocate for Clinton and posts about her on a regular basis. Campaign managers turn to these young adults because they know that they are tastemakers, they are the ones girls like me look to for what they’re wearing, doing, and saying.
The textbooks of tomorrow will say that social media ran this campaign. They will write that it made careers and broke them all with the touch of a button. The campaign became such a joke that comedy shows like SNL make skits to mock every presidential debate. The election is literally a joke. Many people are choosing to not even vote because they don’t want to. They realize that means they don’t have a say, they realize the opportunity they are giving up, but they don’t want either candidate anyway and they are content with no one instead.
They will probably briefly mention that Hillary Clinton could be the first female president, or that Donald Trump could take office without a hint of political knowledge under his belt. Instead, they will write about the joke that our generation turned this election into and how we shot ourselves in the foot by letting it go this far.
If there’s anything I wish we took seriously, it’s the future president of our country. We are so focused on being funny and being liked and being relevant that we forget to focus on what matters.
What will these candidates do for our economy and society once elected? I’m a year away from graduating college and I’m scared, I want someone to have my back as I take my education and join the workforce as I turn my goals into a career. I wish my peers did too.
