As the fight for the nomination is nearing its end (or, in the case of the Republicans, maybe it's just beginning), it becomes even more imperative to choose which candidate you support wisely. Yes, the Republicans lost a lot of candidates in the process who could have been a successful nominee in a different election year, but this year does not seem to be about the best candidates.
In fact, this year seems less about issues than ever before. Donald Trump and other “anti-establishment” candidates on the Republican side have been so successful because people are angry and disappointed in their government and in the people they have elected to serve the country. However, is it wise to vote this way? There are other threats to voting wisely; emotional voting, single-issue voting, and uninformed voting are all threats to an important process in American democracy. It is imperative to all citizens to make sure we do not fall into one of these voting traps.
Emotional Voting
I believe that it is far more important to vote on issues than emotions. Yes, we're all angry about the direction the country is going in, or the terrorism that keeps destroying families, or the deadlock in Washington, and many other polarizing political issues. However, voting emotionally may be just as damaging as voting for a superficial reason, like race or gender. If we vote using only our emotions to choose the next president, we are not considering where the candidates stand on various issues. Maybe we are angry at the government, but if you do not agree with any of Trump or Hillary Clinton’s policies, is he or she really the right choice for you?
Emotional voting comes in more than one form. For the Republicans, the last few elections have been more based on emotions such as anger and disappointment with the way the country is being run. However, another form of emotional voting is voting for a superficial reason. Choosing a candidate because you want to be proud to vote for the first African-American president, or the first woman president, can be dangerous since you could face the same ramifications that the other form of emotional voting faces.
Voting in such a way cheapens the voting process. Yes, making history and breaking through the glass ceiling is incredibly important, but wouldn’t you want to be happy that the candidate you chose is more than just a historical choice? If I am going to vote for the potential first female president, I want my choice to match my political views, or at least be close.
Single-Issue Voting
However, this issue is not just involving the Republican party or its candidates. One issue voting has been a problem both sides of the political aisle have been experiencing for decades. Voting wisely is the only way to make sure that the candidate we choose aligns with our beliefs-- all of them (or at least most of them). When we choose a candidate, why would we choose someone that we only side with on one issue? What if we hate everything else about that candidate? What if you don’t know anything else about that candidate except the one issue you are choosing to vote on? We go through our daily lives dealing with more than one political issue. Our paychecks deal with a variety of economic issues alone. If we are religious, issues of religious freedom and issues like abortion face us regularly.
However, we may have to decide which issues matter to us more when it comes to choosing a candidate. If someone is fiscally conservative but socially liberal, how do you choose a candidate if no candidate can reconcile both sets of issues? The choice becomes ours to make. We must decide what issues matter most to us, but also know where candidates stand on every issue. That way, if we like most of what a candidate supports, but one issue they support is something we are resolutely against, then we know not to vote for said candidate.
Uninformed Voting
This leads to another important part of voting wisely: knowledge of our options. Hopefully, this doesn’t come as a shock to anyone, but the media isn’t unbiased. No matter who you watch, NBC or Fox News, they all have an angle. Conservatives like myself think that “liberal media” like CNN or MSNBC are difficult or even impossible to watch, but Liberals feel the same way about Fox News.
However, as intolerable as opposing media stations may be, it is important to see each candidate from all sides before we make a choice. Trump has dominated the media coverage for quite some time, and both sides of the aisle have had their fair share of complaints. However, there has been coverage on other candidates. It is important for voters, especially undecided voters, to understand that the media does not always tell the whole story, on either side. Media outlets favoring one side or the other will find ways to praise those they support and demean those they are opposed to.
Have you ever heard the saying “don’t believe everything you hear?” Well, the same goes for the media. However, the candidates’ websites may not be so clear-cut, either. It is up to us to properly research each candidate on a variety of sources from opposing sides. This gives us a complete picture of every candidate so we can make the best decision possible.
Conclusion
Going to the ballot box is an incredible honor that we get to perform every election cycle. It is important to ensure that the choice we make when we go to cast our ballots is right for us. Websites like isidewith.com have a quiz that can point undecided voters in the right direction. (Yes, I know it is a quiz, but this is one quiz that goes into a lot of detail and is very well done.) Let’s all keep the importance of voting wisely in mind as we get ready either for our primaries or for the presidential election in November.
