Poli-ticking Me Off

The 2016 election has two of the most historically disliked candidates as front-runners. Chaos from both sides resulted in Clinton and Trump coming out on top, yet Democrats and Republicans alike are unsure about their candidates.

How did this happen? How did the most disliked candidates become front-runners?

In middle school and high school, the teachers always told us that the student elections should not be a popularity contest, meaning we should vote for who had a better plan to improve the school. However, the more popular kids nearly always were chosen as the student government representatives.

I believe this popularity contest has extended to the much larger scale of America. Bernie Sanders was too risky of a candidate, too “radical” to win, so they chose the better known candidate: Hillary Clinton.

Outside of her scandals, the Democratic party thought they could endorse her as a well-respected Democrat, which she isn’t. She’s one of the most corrupt U.S. politicians of this century, and has flip-flopped too much to be thought of as anything better than a sell-out.

The Republicans, likewise, reluctantly endorsed Donald Trump as a passable conservative, which he isn’t.

Donald Trump is far from a politician. Despite his successes in this race, we all know of his downfalls. He rambles on far too often that listening to him has become nearly impossible at times.

If nothing else, Trump needs to learn how to get straight to the point when speaking and to be aware of and smooth out what he’s saying. Does any of Trump’s baggage matter? Yes, especially of late, but his widespread name got him to where he is now, in part because the general population is starting to care more about personality than policy. Trump’s large personality appealed to Americans who wanted a stronger president, and most of the other Republican candidates just couldn’t speak louder than Trump.

Clinton’s popularity came from the higher-ups (no further proof needed than the mention of superdelegates), while Trump’s popularity came from the population seeking a big personality.

Neither candidate should be where they are today. They don’t deserve it, and America doesn’t deserve them as one our president.

We should always take a careful analysis before casting our support, lest we send a carefree celebrity to do the job meant for a dignified, honest, and intelligent individual.