2012 was the first time I voted and I was not only excited but I had two legitimate choices. President Obama was who I was expecting to win because based on my own history I saw that presidents who sought a second term more often than not were elected for a second term. That being said, Mitt Romney wasn't a scary choice. He was a moderate republican who represented normal republican values and I could listen to his debates and ideology and feel it was fair. For a first time voter I tried to be as informed as possible. I watched all of the debates, I read the articles, I even saw the campaigns in my home town. And, even though I identify as liberal, my vote was still for the taking.

I live in Pennsylvania, an important state, a swing state. As a state, our vote is for the taking. Even further, my county, is a swing county, a county who voted Democrat in 2012 but had voted Republican in the past. The environment I lived in bred a vote for the taking. But as this second election comes my way I see that my vote is no longer for the taking, my vote is for the avoiding. As of right now, not a single candidate reflects what I want to see done in the next four years in a way that will benefit me. My vote as of now is to avoid a much worse candidate being elected. The scene has completely changed since 2012.

You see, in 2012, I identified with President Obama's platform: Forward, which was a continuation of his 2008 campaign of 'Hope' and 'Change'. And 8 years later, I am proud of my decision as a lot of policy and change that I wanted to see happen has happened. Eight years later marked the end of Osama Bin Laden, the start of Universal Health Care (a system that is highly flawed as of now but will grow stronger throughout my lifetime), the equality of gay marriage, and the executive call for gun control. I supported and still support all of this. But now it's 2016 and I want more change specifically in these 3 areas:

Education:

Higher education is ridiculously expensive and legislation for free community college is just one solution. You see, the price tag isn't the only problem, it's also the quality. America is behind on all accounts in reading, writing, math, and science. We are average and below average when compared to other countries. I would like to see more funding for the education system and higher standards including an increase in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programs as well as art programs that too often are the first to go during budget cuts. Art, music, sports, and other extracurriculars are what keeps students in school.

Violence:

From gun violence, to police brutality, #blacklivesmatter and more, I believe there's a ridiculous amount of violence that this country sees that no other civilized western country sees. I'm not asking for a ban of all guns or a rewriting of the justice system. A great start would be to at least fund the research programs to see the effects that guns and inequalities have on our society. This legislation, simply for research, has been passed up in congress over and over. Bearing arms is a right, but so is life. Guns and life have to coexist and the only way to find that solution is research. Let's fund it.

Foreign Affairs:

ISIS and other terrorist groups aren't going away and what we're doing to stop it isn't effective. We're still reeling for the aftermath of the largeness of the Paris attacks and various other attacks. Furthermore, the Syrian refugee crisis continues, not to mention our nuclear status with Iran and the American hostages. Now, there are even rumors that North Korea has a hydrogen bomb. These problems are serious and I want a serious candidate considering them.

All of this being said. Not a single candidate from either party has captured my attention or my vote because each candidates seems to be a little too enthralled with rhetoric and politics to give any real indication of what they plan to do with their term. I'm going to talk about the 4 who have the most stake in this election i.e. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders, the two with the highest poll numbers of each party.

I don't have to explain why Trump doesn't have to have my vote. He's sexist, racist, and inconsiderate but most of all, he's inexperienced. North Korea is testing hydrogen bombs and Trump hasn't given any indication that he could handle something like that. Being President is serious and all Trump has done is make many empty calls such as "banning all Muslims" or "overturning Obamacare." Both of these calls are unconstitutional. America is literally built on religious freedom and revoking Obamacare was turned down by the Supreme Court already. I would expect anyone running for President to know that.

And Ted Cruz, I'm not going to forget the Tea-Party coup that shut down the government over Planned Parenthood funding. If that's how you're going to act as a Senator, I already don't trust you in office as a President. We already have a do-nothing Congress, lead in part by the Tea-Party, this isn't a trend I need to see continued.

Meanwhile Hillary Clinton is still fighting a scandal over emails and has really been just laying low waiting for everyone else to mess up. If anything, this election is hers to lose. She, by far, is the most moderate candidate of the four leading in the polls. She is a candidate that both parties could easily vote for, especially if you consider the bi-partisan results during Bill Clinton's terms, but I have no idea what she stands for. Her platform is vague as she tries to be as likable as possible to get through the primaries resulting in cameos on Ellen learning to dab. My vote isn't resting with someone who hasn't made it clear what they're trying to change.

Lastly, Bernie Sanders. He has captured a good amount of attention from millennials because his ideology is likable. He acknowledges social problems in the world and wants to solve them, but every problem can't and won't be solved in one maybe two terms. Not to mention the social legislation he has brought to light would be expensive, and likely un-passable such as #FightFor15. Anyone who has had a minimum wage job (me included) knows that $15 minimum wage would be great, but it's still a horrible idea, especially for small business. Sanders has done a good job painting business and corporations as the problem but research shows that business can be more effective in solving social issues than the government. Don't get me wrong, I think Sanders is great in the fact that he seems like a person, not a politician, who stands for something. However, he's far too progressive, even for me, which means he's un-electable for the general public.

So where does that leave me? Doing a write-in for Yeezy a little earlier than 2020 unless one of these candidates gets it together I suppose. But if politics play out like politics tend to do, my bets are on Hillary.