Don't get me wrong: Hillary Clinton is not my presidential candidate of choice. Her campaign is sullied with secrecy and blatant brown-nosing to target audiences. While I would be thrilled to finally see a woman in office, I would much prefer it be someone with an ounce of integrity and original thought. For example, Hillary recently asserted that the devastating Orlando nightclub attack was an act of "radical Islam" in an obvious attempt to reach Republicans who refuse to vote for Trump, directly countering a statement she made in 2015 about why she refuses to use such a toxic and hate-mongering term. She has in the past suggested that black people are "superpredators," defended a rapist in court by arguing the 12-year-old victim fantasized about having sex with older men, and has proved herself the worst kind of opportunist; doing or saying anything for personal gain.
Even still; I'm with Hillary, come November.
Despite Hillary's glaring flaws, the overwhelming hatred towards her amongst my liberal peers is somewhat surprising to me. She is constantly attacked for things that virtually every past presidential candidate has done. We've been spoiled by Bernie's integrity. But have we forgotten who she is up against this November? Are her actions really so egregious that we need to, in her place, elect a clueless, vomit-inducing reality television star as our next president?
Let's talk about Donald Trump for a moment. This poor excuse for a man, with his racist and violent ideology, could quite possibly be the downfall of America. His charismatic campaign, backed by hatred, stupidity and impulse, is not entirely dissimilar from Hitler's rise to power; manipulating the frustrated and uneducated of this country into believing that those different from ourselves are the cause of all of our problems. There is a very good chance that Trump will win the election; we simply cannot allow this man to be our president.
Frankly, those progressives who are saying they refuse to vote or, worse, voting for Trump because "why the hell not" disturb and frustrate me. If Hillary wants to copy Bernie Sanders word for word, let her do it; plagarized genius is worlds preferable to original stupidity. A meteor is not going to hit America before November, so I implore you to kindly grow up. You may feel I'm being harsh, but President Trump will be a good deal harsher, I promise you. Put aside your disdain for Hillary and look to your future, the future of your children and grandchildren.
Bernie Sanders and his campaign have started a revolution. He has exposed the false nature of our elections, and the people are not going to forget. But we need to give America a chance to improve: in four short years, there will be another election and we will have another chance to elect a better candidate than Hillary. With Trump in office, however, there will be no hope for this country.
