I had a conversation with a friend the other night about the upcoming seasons of “Saturday Night Live” and “South Park,” and what the satirical TV shows will be portraying when it comes to the heated election between presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.
It occurred to me then, that is what this political race has come down to: fodder for comedians and unoriginal memes on social media.
Many people in my age demographic group have openly touted they will not be voting this upcoming November, scoffing at the primary candidates for not being one of their preferred choices.
This ignorance is not what Americans fought for, particularly women, and it is a sad and unfortunate thing that rather than be actively involved in learning more about where their votes are going, people would easily prefer to turn their noses up because they did not get what they wanted.
Between future Supreme Court justice seat openings and the 469 congressional seats awaiting a vote, there is more to this election than just the president. Plenty of news reports I’ve seen have focused on whether or not the Democratic Party will regain control of the Senate with the 34 new openings, and that to me deserves more attention than Donald Trump’s hair faux pas.
Realistically speaking, third parties are there for people who do not identify with the majority, and they do have an effect on the presidential outcome despite never winning themselves.
As someone who spends a lot of her time weighing the pros and cons of situations, I try hard to maintain a fair perspective, especially when it comes to political matters. I have known Republicans who voted Democrat and vice versa. It may not have been their absolute ideal situation, but they stopped to analyze more than what scandals the news is capitalizing on and focused on the candidate’s history, experience and platform, judging them more by their merits and less by their media stunts.
Spouting hate promotes more hate, and in a country where the citizens are so proud to call themselves American, it is disheartening to see them turn their backs on American pride because they feel running off to Canada would be a much better option than to pull it together and be reasonable about our prospective leader.
We as a nation should start being a bit more optimistic about who our country’s leaders will be. At the end of the day, these people are there for a reason, even if it is a reason I may not agree with either.
Political views aside, maintaining a positive outlook encourages diving into the political system and being aware of what is going on beyond what biased sources may be allowing, and brings back the patriotism for which we as a country are exceptionally known.
