Even though the convention is still months away, people have basically decided that Hillary Clinton is the presumptive Democratic nominee for the 2016 election. Ever since the Democratic primary began I wasn't really with her and I continually hoped people would challenge the person who became the presumptive nominee pretty much immediately after Obama won the election. When other candidates began to run, I was genuinely excited for what I thought would've been a competitive race, but what I knew would be just eventually giving Clinton the nomination. Bernie only managed to stand above the rest because of his high goals (I personally gravitated more towards Bernie when it became clear that Martin O'Malley didn't have a viable shot at the nomination, but I digress.) I have several reasons as to why I dislike Hillary Clinton, the main ones being I believe Hillary speaks more for Wall St. more than the common man, her mixed record, the vibe that the DNC owes her the candidacy and America owes her the presidency, and that out of a nation of over 300 million people, we could seriously only find another Clinton to take over the White House. However, when November comes, I'm still voting for her.
There is really only one simple reason I'm voting for her and that is the spoiler effect. The spoiler effect occurs when voters choose a third party and draws votes away from the major party that closest aligns with their views, causing the other party to win. (This, of course, is a result of the terrible first past the post voting system, but that's a whole different rant.) This was clearly seen in the aftermath of the 2000 election. There were many people who chose to vote for Ralph Nader instead of Al Gore because they found him too close to the establishment. Does this sound familiar? Now, what was the result of the 2000 election? George W. Bush won the election, by a very close margin. If the people who voted for Nader actually voted for Gore, we would be looking at a very different United States, one that definitely aligned more with their views. I may not be a Hillary fan, but is she really worse than Trump? Gore was a better choice than Bush in 2000 and Hillary is a better choice than Trump. Trump campaigns act more like something out of a TV show (which really shouldn't be a surprise) than as a serious presidential candidate. Ted Cruz acted more presidential than Trump, and he thinks that God wanted him to run for President.
Look, I really hate our bipartisan system too. It leads to constant gridlock and division. It also doesn't give us a lot of options. I hate that we have to choose between a nationalistic buffoon who at least campaigns as a populist and someone with a hugely mixed record whose true stances on anything are unclear. But, we're too close to the election at this point. If you want to break the bipartisan divide, start at the lower levels of politics. Build parties from the ground up. Vote them in at the state level, vote them into Congress. Grow third parties with genuine grassroots efforts rather than trying to make a quick grab for the Presidency. Maybe by 2020, we could have a viable third party in the United States that could break us out of our prison between a rock and a hard place. (With Yeezy running, this is definitely a possibility.) But, for now, #Im(Reluctantly)WithHer.
