Isaac Warren
Lamp Editor
SPRINGFIELD – This election has been a roller coaster of emotion, accusations, investigations, and inner turmoil. In the eyes of the public, neither candidate for any side, even the third party candidates, are fantastic. Some voters are not voting for a candidate that best represents their ideals, but are voting to block the other candidate from entering office.
On the right, Donald Trump is the nominee, whose boisterous personality has riled up Republicans who believe their voices have been unheard for too long. He has been seen as someone who can get things done by some, and has even been compared to Ronald Reagan. However, some on the right to not support Trump or his rhetoric. They feel that he will destroy the Republican party and has already caused irreversible damage.
On the other side of the spectrum, Hillary Clinton is the nominee for the Democrats. At the time of this writing, she is facing scrutiny for her e-mail scandal, but is still ahead in many polls. Her experience as First Lady and Secretary of State has added credibility to her campaign and shows she has dealt with problems her opponent has not.
Both candidates have skeletons in their closets and the amount of damage they do will undoubtedly influence the election on November 8. For Trump, his rise in wealth and fame are brought up a lot in interviews, as well as allegations of sexual abuse. Multiple women, nearly 20 at this point, have claimed that Trump has groped, made sexual comments, even raped them. Trump’s failed businesses, such as Trump University, have been brought to light as well.
Clinton has been investigated by the FBI, and is still being investigated, since it never technically closed in the first place. Emails are flooding the internet everyday that are being reviewed by investigators to see if they have any attachments to Clinton. So far, many of them are not painting a positive picture for Clinton, or those involved in her campaign or administration.
In my opinion, asking which candidate to elect is like asking which eye you want to get punched in. At this point, it is no longer about voting for someone who has the same beliefs as yourself. It is about blocking a candidate who will cause the most damage to this nation.
So here we are. Left with two people who are not saints by any stretch of the imagination. In my opinion, the founding fathers are rolling in their graves at the thought of this election. For many millennials, such as myself, this is their first election. To be frank, there is not a single candidate that represents every single one of someone’s beliefs.
If someone does agree with everything one of these candidates says, in my opinion, they are either not educated, or do not understand the policies of the candidate they support. Not that there is anything wrong with that; but if you vote for someone to run the free world, perhaps a little background check would be a good idea. It’s 2016. The internet is abundant with information. Nobody has any reason to be uninformed in this day in age, unless they are simply lazy, incompetent, or are aliterate.
It is not in the best interest of yourself, your family, or your country to sit at home on election day and complain. If you do not vote, you do not get the right to complain about how things are not going your way. Innovation, change, and progress are not achieved by sitting on a couch eating ice cream. Get up, vote, make a difference.
Isaac Warren can be reached at [email protected]
