I freely admit, I’ve steered clear of politics for most of my life. I really don’t see the point in watching people I don’t know make veiled promises they probably can’t/won't keep while bashing their opponents. But I’m almost 21, and, come November, will be able to vote in a Presidential election for the first time. And I fully intend to exercise that right and make my voice, albeit a small one in a crowd of millions, heard. But when I cast my vote, I want it to be based on facts and intelligent, educated opinions, not assumptions I make based on headlines or my friends’ and family members’ angry Facebook posts. So, in an effort to educate myself, I sat down with my family and watched the last night of the RNC, during which Donald Trump officially accepted the Republican nomination for President.
Man, it was weird. It was like everything I dislike about politics in one room, decorated with the Star - Spangled Banner, as NPR and CNN logos ran across the bottom of the screen declaring the event as “Breaking News.” In short, it was a bunch of people talking about America, Trump, Republicans, Democrats, and Hillary and her emails — people I have never heard of, who represent entire states. One of Trump’s business associates and proclaimed best friend. Trump’s oldest daughter, who is now running his business empire. I figured, if I’m going to learn about these candidates, it’s probably smarter to hear what they have to say for themselves than read about their speeches in a biased article from a secondary news source.
The other speakers aside, my expectations were that I would sit and listen to Trump and be disgusted by just about everything he said. I thought I would disagree with him at every point. But, that would require that he make a series of tangible, arguable claims, which I should have realized is not the point of political speeches. I guess it’s because I’m young and maybe a bit naïve, but I was holding out hope that someone would stand up behind that podium and talk plainly, directly about what exactly they want to do when elected. OK — I get that that’s hard to do because there’s no way to know exactly what issues one will be faced with while in office. It’s also hard to anticipate exactly what steps one can take to solve the problems that do come up, or what kind of compromises will have to be made with other politicians to get things done, if things can get done at all. Even Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton can’t predict the future.
But. Although Trump clearly referenced several issues important to many Americans — most memorable in my mind were immigration, the economy, and trade agreements, all important issues that bear discussion, consideration, and action — and although it was full of professionalism and enthusiasm, one of the things Trump’s speech lacked was specificity. And that’s what scares me the most right now about his, and the Republican Party’s, platform. He spoke in soundbites, with hand gestures reminiscent of Mussolini. At every pause he was met with applause that escalated into the stadium of audience members chanting things like “Build that wall.” What makes me nervous about this is that, although I don’t remember Trump saying anything specifically about building a wall in his nomination acceptance speech Thursday night, his speech about immigration, and regulation, and vetting the people coming into our country, and creating boundaries stirred people up into such a frenzy that they were calling for action, action that I do not and will not support, and that really doesn’t make sense.
In addition to his soundbite speech structure that lacked any detailed explanation of what he plans to do and how he plans to do it, Trump’s entire platform and performance seemed delivered to a very specific demographic, one that I’m not a part of. Whenever the camera panned the crowd of the RNC, nine times out of 10 it featured white men and women over the age of 40, dressed in some variety of conservative business wear, cowboy hats and jeans, hard hats, or Trump and/or American themed gear. I’m white, so I guess I have that in common with these people. And I’m a woman, so I share that with the female portion of Trump’s audience and supporters. But throughout his entire 70-plus minute speech, I never felt like he was talking to me. The issues he outlined in his platform are very important to a lot of people, and do impact me in some ways. But they aren’t the issues I’m worried about on a daily basis. Where is the stance on LGBTQ+ rights (which he mentioned, although it was a stretch for him to get there and he said almost nothing substantial)? Where is the stance on women’s rights and issues? Abortion? Education? Other than saying he advocated for greater choice in education and a half-assed mention of the cost of education after high school, he had nothing to say on the subject.
Trump officially accepted the Republican nomination on Thursday night, and I’m writing this about 24 hour’s later, sitting on my couch at home. The point is not to focus on the fact that I’m home watching Netflix and writing on a summer Friday night instead of out with friends, but to draw attention to the short amount of time I’ve had to process the RNC. For someone like me who tends to stay away from politics, it’s a lot to process. My entire family is Republican, with the exception of my 90-year-old grandmother. But as I’ve grown up and started taking more ownership over my stance on social and political issues, I identify as a moderate with liberal leanings. So, in our (faulty) two-party, divisive and divided system, I defer to Democrat. Social issues are the most important to me at this point in my life, and the Democratic Party tends to uphold more progressive, social causes.
Despite this, I haven’t been super hyped about Hillary, either. I like that she’s a woman. Regardless of who each party was going to nominate this year, I’m going to have a really hard time voting a middle-aged white man into office, whether it’s Trump or if it had been someone like Bernie. So, Hillary’s female presence is a big plus for me. But, like any career politician, she comes with a lot of baggage. I’m looking forward to hearing her speak next week at the Democratic National Convention--I hope to find in her platform more substantial reasons to vote for her other than our common gender. As of right now, I’m still in a state of flux. I’m pretty certain I won’t be voting for Trump, or for any Republican, but I want to make sure I’m voting Democratic and for Hillary because I have good reasons to, not just because I don’t want to be another conservative from Texas. Guess we’ll see how it goes.
