*Disclaimer: these opinions do not necessarily reflect those of Affinity; this is my personal opinion
Come November, I won’t be walking into a voting booth (due to my age, of course), but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to stand behind a presidential candidate. At sixteen, I have just as much a duty as any other citizen to actively take part in my country’s political cycle. (In fact, all teens should care about this upcoming election, but that’s beside the point.) With this being said, I feel as if I have an obligation to stand behind a presidential candidate. That presidential candidate, for me, is Hillary Clinton.
Now, before you attack me calling me a war-loving, white feminist supporter, I have to say that you’re right. Hillary Clinton sucks. But that doesn’t mean I can’t support her. When the choice is between a deceptive and lying yet experienced politician and an outright racist and hateful businessman (who has failed many times), I will pick the former every single time. Pardon my language, but I will be damned before I decide that I’d rather have Trump sitting in the Oval Office over Hillary. Even though I stand behind Hillary, I don’t have to believe in everything she does.
And before I get much further into this, let’s address the gigantic pink elephant in the room: a third party candidate isn’t going to win the election. I would absolutely love to see Jill Stein shock the country and snatch the presidency, but it straight up isn’t going to happen.
For some reason, there’s an unspoken myth that if you support a candidate, you automatically believe in all of the same principles that they do. This isn’t the case. Hillary and I disagree on various issues, but she’s still the ideal candidate for me at this point in the race. Even though she has a questionable past, she has adopted many of Bernie’s principles for the Democratic Party platform. In fact, Bernie’s campaign has pushed the Democratic Party further to the left by spreading his political revolution across the country. This, in turn, will make Hillary’s campaign all the more like Bernie’s, especially with his recent endorsement.
What all former Bernie supporters, such as myself, need to do is take a step back for a moment. This election isn’t about Clinton or Trump. This election is about whether our country decides to give executive power to the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. And quite frankly, the Democratic Party is what is best for our country.
If we want to begin dismantling police brutality and institutional racism, we need to vote for the democrat. If we want to continue our progress for LGBT+ rights, we need to vote for the democrat. If we want to battle poverty rates, we need to vote for the democrat. If we want to continue to make progress in human rights, we need to vote for the democrat. If we want to do what’s best for the average human being, we need to vote for Hillary Clinton.
If Donald Trump is elected opposed to Hillary, he will take our country’s progress, turn around, and start walking backwards with it. No, Hillary doesn’t have as great of a track record as Bernie, but at least she says she’s planning on being a president for the people while Trump doesn’t seem to have a care for any minority group ever.
I know, I know. Hillary Clinton is absolutely awful; there’s no denying it. But Donald Trump is ten times worse. So if you can vote, please get out and vote—it’s your duty as an American citizen! And when you walk into that voting booth, think about what is best for our country and our people: the Democratic Party in power.
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