This was the first Presidential election I could vote in, as my 18th birthday was in February. I was so extremely excited to FINALLY be able to have a say in what could happen to our country. The first thing I did when I left school on my 18th birthday, aside from getting my new driver’s license, was go register to vote. Nothing else mattered to me on that day except registering to vote.
For the primary election, I took my time to read the platforms of the people still running. I read all of Marco Rubio’s platform and decided that he was the person I wanted to be my next president. I’m sure you can imagine my disappointment when he dropped out soon after I voted. And when it came down that my choices were Trump or Clinton, I honestly did not even want to vote. I kept thinking that there was no point in voting when I dislike both people. I knew that it was my duty to vote one way or another.
I did not make a decision until the day I turned my absentee ballot in. My decision was to vote for Donald Trump.
Before you get mad about my decision, let me explain. If you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community, are of a different ethnicity, illegal, whatever you are, I will NEVER judge you or treat you unfairly. I will be there for you if need me and always try to understand what you feel. I do not have the right to judge you so I will do my very best to refrain from that or at least keep my opinions to myself. It is your life, not mine. If I am okay with all these things, then why did I vote for Donald Trump, a man who is labeled as a racist, sexist, homophobic, ect. type of person?
I focused my decision on three reasons; what is the candidate’s opinion on Medicare/Medicaid, abortion, and education?
My grandpa depends on Medicare and Medicaid to pay for his medical needs as there is no possible way he could pay for all of his doctor’s appointments, prescriptions and surgeries. His only source of income is the $700 a month he receives from social security. My president needed to ensure that this would not be taken away from him. Trump wants to “create flexibility for states to design an innovative Medicaid program that will better serve low-income citizens” (donaldjtrump.com). Clinton had similar views. She wanted to keep Medicare, reforming it to make it better and keep the Affordable Care Act. That’s great except for the ACA. I’ve done research on the ACA for my government class and I don’t like it. There are too many holes in it and if you ask people covered by it, many of them say that it isn’t always affordable.
As a Christian, I do not agree with abortion. I am understanding if the situation involves a gruesome sexual assault or puts the mother or babies life in danger though. I also do not agree with completely defunding Planned Parenthood, or giving them the ability to do whatever they please. Trump has said that he wants to defund Planned Parenthood for the purpose of abortions and then later said that he believes abortions should be banned at a certain point in the pregnancy, of course with exceptions to rape, incest, and danger to the mother’s life. I could not stand the thought of Clinton making late term abortions legal, as her cutoff would normally have already produced a nearly full grown and typically healthy baby. I am not, and can never be okay with late-term abortions.
Education. Something I value a lot considering I am attending the University of Oklahoma. To put it simply, Trump wants to invest $20 billion in education as well as making the opportunity of an education after high school easier to get and pay for. Clinton wanted to make public education strong and make college debt-free. Both candidates had views on education that I agreed with. In my opinion, in terms of education, it was a win-win.
I don’t like that Trump has no experience in politics and it makes me nervous at times. I liked that Clinton had experience but the amount she had made me nervous that she knew how to work the system too easily. I like that Clinton is all about women’s rights and helping the minorities. I do not like the way Trump acts and do not like the derogatory things he has said during the election. I don’t like that Trump and Pence do not seem to believe in global warming or stem-cell research. Clintons emails and some decision she made as Secretary of State make me uneasy. I like and dislike things about each of them. I know there were third party options, but at this point in time, a third party does not have a chance of winning or making much of a difference.
I wanted Marco Rubio. I wanted different options. I don’t like Donald Trump. I don’t like Hillary Clinton. I wouldn’t have been happy with my vote either way. I made my decision based on the points I found most important for myself and family. I looked at more of the platforms than just these three points. I had to make a decision, so I did. I am not happy with my vote for Trump. But I wouldn’t have been happy if I voted for Clinton either.
