I want to start by saying that I never used to follow politics, at least until this year. Why? Personally, I didn’t care about politics enough to follow them, but since this year’s election will impact my future (as well as yours) for the next four or eight years, I thought that it would be smart of me to become more educated about our candidates and their platforms. This year’s election is a huge turning point for our country; we could potentially have our first female President, or our first “reality T.V. star” President. With this article, it’s my goal to try and inform people of the two potential leaders of our country and why it’s so crucial for us as citizens to vote. Trying to keep this as unbiased as possible, I don’t mean to offend anyone who might be voting for candidate A or candidate B with what I have written here.
Many people may say that they are avid followers of our candidates, but does anyone really know the candidates’ platforms? Probably not. The only things people really seem to know about our candidates is that Hillary deleted 30,000 emails and Trump wants to build a wall, and those are not what we should be basing our votes on. As citizens, we are entitled to know exactly what each candidate’s thoughts and views are on important issues in our country.
Two main issues that have been brought up at debates are national security and immigration. On one hand, Hillary wants to continue to stick with our allies (United Kingdom, Canada, and France to name a few) while also coming up with a concrete plan for confronting terrorists. She also wants to continue to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, which if acquired could potentially start a nuclear war. Her views on immigration are simple: promote naturalization and enforce humane immigration laws. On the other hand, Trump wants to increase the United States Army to 540,000 active soldiers ($$$), invest in a missile defense system for the United States and build a wall preventing Mexican people from illegally entering our country (and they would have to pay for it). I don’t know about you, but I think having a missile system in the U.S. is very detrimental to our own security.
The last presidential debate was on October 19th and one of the hot topic issues was women’s rights and abortion. Hillary’s stance on this issue is that she is for safe, legal abortion as a “critical health service,” meaning she opposes efforts that try to defund Planned Parenthood, and she wants to repeal the Hyde Amendment (repeal funding for abortion except in cases of rape, incest, and mother endangerment). She was quoted as saying, “I will defend Planned Parenthood, I will defend Roe vs. Wade, and I will defend women’s rights to make their own decisions.” Trump’s view on this issue sparked quite a bit of commotion. During the last debate, he said that he would overturn Roe vs. Wade. This means that if he were to become president, he would take away the rights any woman has if she were to become pregnant against her will, felt like she was unfit to become a mother, or if her or the unborn child’s lives were in danger.
The last platform I want to briefly touch on is the issue of gun control. This has been a huge ordeal within our country for a few years and not much has been done to try and fix it. Both candidates have what seems like the same views on the gun control laws and the second amendment. Trump’s view is that he will continue to defend the second amendment so that the right of the people to bear arms will not be infringed upon. Along with this he wants to get gang members and drug dealers off the streets, expand treatment programs for the mentally ill, and empower law-abiding gun owners to continue to defend themselves. Hillary’s views on this issue are to expand and strengthen background checks and keep guns away from domestic abusers, violent criminals, and the severely mentally ill.
November 8th is voting day and it is drawing closer and closer. Hopefully you have a better idea of what Trump and Hillary stand for, and if not you can visit both of their websites down below. Our country is very divided and this election could go either way, but that’s not an excuse not to vote. Being President is not another job to add to a resume; it’s a serious and vital role of our country. We need someone who will protect us as well as find ways to fix and improve our country. The countdown to voting day has begun, so hopefully you’ve registered. Go out and vote; it’s your right as a citizen. See you at the polls!
If you wish to learn more about certain issues & the stances of Trump & Clinton, visit their websites: