Whether you care about politics or not, they're impossible to escape. People are posting, sharing, and discussing it left and right, and at some point, you probably made up your mind as to who you plan to vote for in the Primaries. Even if you can't vote in the Primaries, you can probably vote in November, so picking a candidate is important.
What I've found troubling though, is that a lot of people seem to only care about one candidate. Regardless of your political party, if you have a first choice and that person doesn't win, there is another option. What seems to be the case though, is that people are deciding that if their first choice doesn't win the Primaries, then they won't vote at all- and that is a serious problem.
Like many college students, I personally support Bernie Sanders and plan to vote for him in the Primaries. This article isn't about why, it's simply a statement. For various reasons, I believe that Sanders is the right person to lead our country forward. On Thursday, he was in the South Bronx, not far from my house, and I planned to go hear him speak with a few friends. Unfortunately, we couldn't go due to timing and travel issues, but it just so happened that on the same day, Hillary Clinton was speaking on my campus.
Although I support Sanders, I chose to go hear what Clinton had to say. Even though I don't agree with everything she had to say, I think it was important to listen, because if Sanders doesn't win the Primaries, though I want him to, I plan to vote for Clinton. As a proud Democrat, I cannot imagine voting for any of the Republican candidates. It seems to be the lesser of two evils and I feel that if any of them won, our country would fall apart. Whether racist, sexist, or homophobic, voting for any of them would go against what I believe in- so I won't.
On April 19, I'm voting for Bernie Sanders, and in November, I'm hoping I can vote for him again. If he happens to not be on the ticket though, I will vote for Hillary Clinton because although there are issues I disagree with her on, not voting is not an option, and voting for anyone else is not something I would do.
As American citizens, voting is not only our right, but our privilege, and not taking advantage of it is hurtful to those who fought for it, to ourselves, and to future generations. Although it often sadly seems to come down to the lesser of two evils, not voting allows for the worse candidate to win. Many people seem to be saying that a single vote won't matter, but it does. If you've declared a party, you need to vote in the Primaries, and if you haven't, you need to vote in November. Don't let your pride get in the way of voting because that is only causing more damage to a country that's already not in a good place.
"My way or the highway" might work sometimes, but in this case, it doesn't. If anything, taking this stance only allows for someone you don't went as President to win. Even if it happens that the person you vote for doesn't win, at least you can say you tried to support them. If you don't vote, you can't even say you helped which in my opinion, is the same thing as saying you don't care at all. Not voting is supporting the wrong candidate and therefore accomplishing nothing.
