2016 is here, and we all know what that means. Another presidential election is quickly approaching us. Time to start keeping track of current events, watching the news, and deciding if we’re going to elect a Republican or Democratic leader.

Up until this year, I was too young to vote. However, I closely followed the past few elections, watching TV reports with my mom and asking her all about the different candidates. I was genuinely interested. And I was beyond excited that I could actually start making a difference this year.

That excitement is gone now; it has been replaced with pure dread. What should I do, I ask myself, since I cannot stand any of the candidates?

As of June 2016, there are three people left in the race: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Bernie Sanders. Either Hillary or Bernie will end up being the official Democratic candidate, but Trump is the Republican who is here to stay. Now, I have always been a Republican, and that will never change. So, I already have many ideological issues with Hillary and Bernie, and I was hoping for a strong right-wing candidate that I could support. However, Donald Trump is not what I asked for, and I also have many issues with him.

Trump is, essentially, a man with zero empathy or tolerance. Yes, I do agree that something needs to be done to keep our country and our borders safe, but his policies have taken it too far. In favor of these political policies, Trump has given up all concern of human well-being, no exceptions. In addition, he is also really, really conceited. Trump, we don’t want to hear all about how “great” you are. How about you show us instead, by focusing on actually making America great.

Now on to Hillary … one of the most dangerous forces in the world right now. She should be in prison, but somehow she is currently the leading Democratic candidate. She sat back and watched as beloved Americans died in Benghazi, and then lied about the whole affair to their families. She blamed a YouTube video on this terrorist attack, exposing her great lack of judgement to the world. On top of it all, she has been completely blowing off her email scandal, trying to avoid it in a pretty immature way. She hasn’t faced punishments for her actions, and hopefully she will soon.

Finally, Bernie … the man trying to lead our country in a different, scary direction. It’s easy to understand why young people fall into his trap; his promises of “A Future to Believe In” are easy to fall victim to. But, while some people may like his socialist ideas (I for one do not), they have to know that these ideas are really just not possible for our country. College, for example, will never actually be free. If Bernie says the government will pay for it, then we, the citizens, will ultimately be the ones who end up with the bill. We pay taxes after all, right? It’s simple economics, which Bernie just doesn’t understand.

In all honesty, I don’t want to have to vote for any of these people. I’m not a proud supporter of any candidate this year, which disappoints me. I’m still going to be using my right to vote, since it’s not something to be taken for granted, but I’m not going to be happy on Election Day. I know America deserves so much better. So, I encourage everyone to vote, but first, to really think about who we want as our next president. Unfortunately, this is the year when we must vote for the lesser evil.