The byline for the article does not suggest that the candidates are analogous to the television shows mentioned. However, I digress.
Donald Trump has just clinched, officially, the GOP nomination for the 2016 presidential election. Hillary Clinton, currently suffering through a federal investigation and audit of her affairs, has been the presumptive nominee for the Democratic party for the longest time. Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, has been preaching anti-Wall Street rhetoric since the very beginning of not only his time in the Senate, but also since he started campaigning. The two presumptive nominees face scathing hatred on social media. Bernie, as he is affectionately known on various social media platforms, has something of a fan following rivaled only by entertainers and musicians. A crowded field now has just three people left standing. Some of them agree with each other, but all of them disagree with each other even more. It is truly a choice between a rock and a crazy place.
Normally, I end up picking a side to support because I believe in some of the values they represent and work for in politics, even when I wasn't living in America. I did follow the election of President Obama in 2008 and his re-election in 2012, and although his approval ratings are not exactly sky high, there is a general consensus that he has been a good president, but not a great one. Once a party was picked — I am sure readers can relate — there came upon me a sense of comfort and warmth and also the knowledge that I was placing my faith in the right people who roamed the corridors of power, to help out the little people in the grand scheme of things.
Politics is polarizing. Indeed, the two words share the first three letters. Conflict in choice is essential — deciding between two things should never really be extremely simple. Whether it's deciding between salad or McDonald's for a snack, or between a sedan and a muscle car for your new motor vehicle, choosing is a fundamental and a fun part of life, although some will rightfully argue that there has been nothing in this election season but mental fun, without any fundamentals to be found. Between Trump's violent and xenophobic and all around offensive remarks, Clinton's flip-flopping to appease what the crowd wants to hear (resulting in complete 180 degree turns about things she spoke in the early 1990s, especially considering her definition of marriage) and Sanders' tunnel vision afflicted big bank mutual destruction fund, being forced to pick a size does not imbue feelings of warmth or comfort and knowledge, but instead feelings of cold, directionless fear — or maybe that's just how I feel in organic chemistry. I can't tell, summer school is one big blur of classes and food. That's as may be.
Maybe as the election draws closer, the clouds of confusion may part, and a clearer dawn shall shine upon the political opinions of the as yet undecided masses. Until then, a ballot so divided, surely cannot stand.
