This past week I sent in my ballot for my first Presidential election. I'd like to share with you some of the thoughts and emotions that have accompanied such a monumental milestone in my adult life.
First, let me clarify what I mean by "sent in." I grew up in North Carolina and am going to school in Iowa, and therefore elected to vote absentee in my home state. Voting absentee is a fairly simple process that involves requesting, filling out, and then mailing back an official ballot. There were many reasons I made this decision, but the two biggest were that North Carolina is a swing state for the presidential election, and I wanted to vote in the gubernatorial election there.
This nasty woman has no trouble admitting that she voted for Hillary Clinton. While Clinton is far from perfect, I think she was the best choice on the ballot. I have written extensively about my feelings about Trump, and as an international relations major there is no way I could vote for a candidate who cannot name a single world leader.
However, just because I voted for her does not mean she has my enthusiastic support. My skepticism has nothing to do with emails or Benghazi, but rather a firm belief that she will not change very much. I believe there are too many powerful people, the Clintons included, who benefit from the current economic and social system in the United States to see it changed.
Of course, the flip side of not changing very much is that the progress so many have worked so hard for will not be taken away. Women will retain their rights, the LGBTQ community will retain theirs, and maybe the economic progress that started with Obama will continue.
All of that aside, I hate the fact that the candidate I voted for in my first presidential election is not one that I enthusiastically support. I almost feel cheated in a way. In a country with 350+ million people, the other candidates sucked so much I had to hold my nose and pick the least offensive option.
Instead of choosing a candidate who could enact real social reform and policies that I could really support; I have to choose one who won't rock the boat too much. When making my final decision I felt it was that, or face the consequences of America turning back the clock fifty years. I know many of my fellow millennials are feeling the same way.
"Millennials, YOU HAVE TO VOTE!"
A word of caution though, do not let those feelings be your excuse for not voting. Millennials, YOU HAVE TO VOTE! Withholding your support is not an act of protest it is an act of concession. There is no way things will get better if you abstain from voting, but there is a very real possibility that they may get much worse. We are the generation that could really shift the balance of this election, which is good because we are the ones with the most to lose.
