I am not one to express my political opinions on blogs or social media. I am not one to engage in the classic Facebook political arguments. I just keep my thoughts and opinions to myself.
So why express my opinion now?
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This is the first presidential election that I can vote in, as well as an election, unlike anything the US has witnessed before. Nobody seems particularly thrilled with any of the candidates this year. Many people say that they need to pick the lesser of two evils: the corrupt Hillary Clinton or the arrogant Donald Trump. From my understanding, picking the lesser of two evils normally results in people just voting for the candidate associated with their political party. Republicans will think that Hillary is automatically more evil, and will settle to side with Trump.
I consider myself a moderate Republican. I am socially more liberal but generally, I have conservative beliefs. As the election gets closer, I decided to really research Donald Trump: his background, platform, and experience. After researching, I believe he lacks the skills and qualities of a competent president, so I will not vote for the Republican nominee this election.
I believe we need a president that has political experience. Yes, Trump is a businessman and understands how the American economy works. However, first and foremost he is a real estate mogul and starred on a reality TV show. He has never served as a politician or in the armed forces, which I believe make him unqualified to become president of the United States. Trump understands how to run a company, but running a country is a whole different ball game.
The United States is one of the most powerful countries in the world. People around the world are paying close attention to our presidential race because the outcome of this election will affect them, too. Our people need to respect the president, but I believe that foreigners need to respect our president as well. Other countries need to take the president seriously, and I find it difficult to take Trump seriously. This is not a candidate that should be representing the Republican Party, and should definitely not be representing the United States of America.
Donald Trump is ignorant, outspoken, narcissistic and clearly has temperament issues. He attacked John McCain, saying that he was not a war hero. He mocked a reporter for having a disability. He even ridiculed Ted Cruz’s wife on social media. Trump does not think before he speaks, and I really believe that as president, he is going to say the wrong thing to the wrong person -- hurting our nation in the blink of an eye.
Some of Trump’s proposals are absolutely preposterous. He wants to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States, immediately ship back all illegal immigrants to their home countries and force Mexico to pay for a wall across the southern border. People can argue that banning a religion is unconstitutional, that sending back 11 million illegal immigrants is nearly impossible and that building a wall is ridiculous; we’ve heard the disapprovals and arguments. However, with respect to these sensitive topics, I think that Tom Moe, a retired Air Force Col., made the most powerful statement against Trump’s controversial proposals in John Kasich’s Web ad last fall. Moe paraphrased a quote from Protestant pastor Martin Niemöller, taken from his post-World War II lectures.
"You might not care if Donald Trump says Muslims should register with their government, because you're not one. And you might not care if Donald Trump says he's going to round up all the Hispanic immigrants because you're not one. And you might not care if Donald Trump says it's okay to rough up black protesters because you're not one. And you might not care if Donald Trump wants to suppress journalists because you're not one. But think about this: If he keeps going, and he actually becomes president, he might just get around to you. And you better hope there's someone left to help you."
I thought about the Pledge of Allegiance that we used to recite every day in elementary school. I thought about the last line that says “…with liberty and justice for all.” With Trump as president, there will not be liberty and justice for every group of people in the US.
Does this mean I am automatically voting for Hillary Clinton? No. Will I consider voting for a third-party candidate like Gary Johnson? Absolutely.
