The 2016 presidential race has so far been very tumultuous and very publicized, and now the presumptive nominees for both the Republican and Democratic parties have been decided. As of now, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is representing the Democratic Party, and businessman Donald Trump is representing the Republican Party. Depending on what media outlet you usually follow (more prominently Fox News, MSNBC and CNN), the candidates have been portrayed in different points of view due to the perspective of each media outlet. However, the best way to decide who to vote for is to look at both candidates objectively. Since there are so many issues to look at, the criteria will be based on political experience, fiscal policies, foreign policies, social policies, and environmental policies.

Political Experience

Both Trump and Clinton have run for president before. Donald Trump actually ran for president in 2000 (which might be a surprise for some), and ran for the Reform Party, where he mainly focused on economic policies. Other than the presidential run, Trump has had no other political experience until this election cycle (however, he has been prominent in the political world, giving an endorsement to Mitt Romney in 2013). Hillary Clinton first ran for president in 2008 for the Democratic Party, in which current president Barack Obama won the nomination. Clinton was also a New York senator from 2001-2009, and was appointed Secretary of State by the Obama administration from 2009-2013.

Fiscal Policies

According to Donald Trump's campaign site, his tax reform has "four simple goals". These goals are tax relief to the middle class, simplifying the current tax code, growing the American economy by discouraging corporate inversions, and making sure that the plan doesn't add to the economic debt. Trump also has a five-point economic plan, which includes: tariffs on China and Mexico, keep the current minimum wage, big tax cuts (including eliminating the estate tax and cutting income taxes), bringing in Wall Street businessmen into his staff, and repeal Obamacare.

According to Hillary Clinton's campaign site, there are three main ideas within her economic policy:strong growth, fair growth, and long-term growth. Strong growth focuses on making the United States a clean-energy superpower and increasing private and public investment. Fair growth focuses on raising the minimum wage to $12 and supporting unions/collective bargaining. Long-Term growth focuses on lower health care costs and reforming capital gains taxes in order to encourage investing for the long term.

Foreign Policies

In this election, foreign policy is one of the most talked about issues. According to the BBC, Trump's foreign policy includeshaving ground troops in Syria in order to fight the Islamic State and having the United States distance itself from NATO (instead, he wants a more European-based organization like the EU). Trump also wants to strengthen relations with Russia and create a U.S-China trade reform that will "revive American manufacturing.” Trump's most prominent foreign policy, however, is immigration reform. He proposes that, in order to keep illegal immigrants out of the United States, to build a wall dividing the U.S from Mexico. He also has a proposed plan to have the Mexican government pay for the wall, with his plan further detailed on his campaign website.

Clinton's foreign policy includes a three point plan to intensify diplomatic efforts in the Middle East. She stated at the CFR (Council of Foreign Relations), “One, defeat ISIS in Syria, Iraq, and across the Middle East. Two, disrupt and dismantle the growing terrorist infrastructure that facilitates the flow of fighters, financing, arms, and propaganda around the world. Three, harden our defenses and those of our allies against external and homegrown threats.” She also wants the U.S. and its allies to set up intelligence gathering, conduct more airstrikes, and establish a no-fly zone in Syria in order to provide refugees with greater safety. Clinton's immigration policy includes creating a new federal agency, the Office of Immigrant Affairs, in order to coordinate immigration policy on all levels of government. Clinton also wants to strengthen the NATO alliance and wants to work with Russia on common interest (but wants to limit "Russia's transgressions")

Social Policies

Social policies can be very tough to distinguish from each other, so the main focus of this section will be on three major things: gun control (which can be defined as a social issue), LGBTQ issues, and abortion. Trump is against a gun ban, stating, "The 2nd amendment guarantees a fundamental right that belongs to all law abiding American’s. The constitution doesn’t create that right it ensures that the government can’t take it away right?" Trump believes that states need to decide whether transgender people may use restrooms matching their identity, but criticized North Carolina's ruling restricting transgender people access to bathrooms matching their gender due to economic reasons. Trump is pro-life, but has exceptions in whether abortion should be legal (he is quoted in an interview with Chuck Todd, "Well, to me, I have exceptions. Rape, incest, if the mother's going to die..."). He also wants to defund Planned Parenthood due to their abortion access.

Hillary Clinton believes that there should be strict gun laws, including a ban on assault rifles. She also criticized Congress on their stance on guns, stating, "We make hard choices and we balance competing values all the time and I was disappointed that the congress did not pass universal background checks after the horrors of the shootings at Sandy Hook and now we’ve had more in the time since." Clinton is critical of Republicans who reject marriage equality, applauded the Supreme Courts decision in the Obergefell vs. Hodges case (in which marriage equality was enacted nationwide), and wants to allow transgender people to use whichever restroom fits their gender identity. On abortion, Clinton is pro-choice and believes a woman should have an abortion at any stage of pregnancy. She also supports funding Planned Parenthood.

Environmental Policies

Both candidates have seemingly opposite views on the environment and clean energy. Trump promises to increase production of fossil fuels (with a specific focus on offshore drilling), remove carbon emissions limits on U.S. power plants and finish construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Trump also denies climate change, stating, change.” Clinton’s environmental policies include expanding investment in renewable energy, ban drilling in the U.S. arctic, limit carbon emissions, and blocking attempts for construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. According to "The Scientific American," Clinton wants to work with Congress on climate action, but would focus on smaller legislative actions and employ executive powers.

Conclusion

Whether or not you side with Trump or Clinton (or maybe neither), this article should not be your only source of research. This only covers a fraction of what both candidates believe in and what their past history and experiences are. Before you vote this year, just remember that every vote counts, and that no matter who you vote for, you are voting for your future. Do not vote just based on whether you liked Donald Trump from The Apprentice or want Hillary Clinton to be the first woman president, but rather vote for who you believe will be the best for the United States.