As soon as you get a license, you are asked if you want to register to vote, “Are you Republic, Independent, or Democrat?” At 16, the choice is yours. You have not experienced life, or truly dealt with laws. You must make the best opinion based on what you have heard, or maybe something you learned in school. Good luck.
We are asked to choose between few parties, with great meanings. Of course, an entire history of each party must be considered. Hundreds of years, filled with tangled opinions and countless arguments. Back to the beginning, with the end of a war, the nation looked towards a successful general to be our national representative. He did not run or have a claimed party. Hamilton and Jefferson would begin the divide into parties. Washington noticed this split and spoke to the newly forming nation, warning them of this great debate that was going to soon start. Washington knew from his recent history that any split between our nation could have been drastic.
Though that was not that recent, his opinion still stands. According to the Pew Research Center, America is separated into 48 percent Democrat and 39 percent Republican, leaving 13 percent unaccounted for. Those that cannot make the decision, maybe because they choose not to or because they agree with both sides of the arguments. How can you be forced to pick one, when you agree with parts of both? You could be Independent, but then you cannot vote for preliminaries.
Maybe we should reconsider George Washington's suggestion, when he knew exactly what this country was founded upon. Instead of just focusing on Democrat or Republican, we should be focusing on who is the best candidate, who is representing the American people the best, who is abiding by the laws and Constitution, who will change our country for the best in four years. There will always be arguments about laws and differing opinions, but those minute differences should be what makes the candidates stand apart from each other, not just what party they are from.
There is still time and things could change. There is always potential, maybe not this election, but maybe the next. Hopefully it does not take a war within our own country to realize that politics are just another split. History repeats itself, and it was only after the election of Abraham Lincoln to make half of the country secede. Our country is meant to be the best country in the world, therefore we need to make changes to make the lives of the American citizens happier. George Washington thought of America's future, he did not plan on winning a war to argue with itself.
