Being a 20-year-old bleeding heart liberal isn't the easiest thing in the world. You're constantly asked to defend your beliefs and your knowledge of the "real world."
Your political views are constantly called into question by those with more conservative views. Well, I've read the news since I was about 12, attended President Obama's inauguration in 2009, received an A+ in my American Politics class, and I'm feeling the Bern.
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All year, I've very obviously shown my support for Sanders, taking heat from both feminists and conservatives. However, the one thing that I will not do to ensure that Bernie wins the nomination is bash Hillary Clinton.
Here's why.
This election season has been hotly divided and not just across party lines. The Republicans are either strongly for Trump or strongly opposing him. The Democrats are more evenly split between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
Bernie Sanders definitely has what it takes to not only win the nomination, but win the presidency. In several polls, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton both beat the Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, but Sanders beat him by a larger margin than Clinton. However, with mainstream media heavily favoring Clinton, the majority of the voting population knows more about her than they do about him. It is very likely that she will win the nomination.
Even though I believe that Sanders should be the nomination and that he would make a better president, I won't be bashing the other potential Democratic nominee. Clinton would make a good president. She was successful as the Secretary of State and was a good Senator when she held the position. She has worked with Republicans in the past to pass legislation, which is definitely key to success.
Regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination, I think that most people can agree that they would be a better president than Donald Trump. If you've been paying a lot of attention, then you would agree they would be better than Ted Cruz as well.
Donald Trump has made a mockery of the American political system. He has made sexist, racist, and homophobic comments and he doesn't even know where he stands on important issues. He has called women disgusting pigs, implied that they are nasty because they are on their periods, and said that women are only successful if they are attractive. His misogyny is apparent. His policies are scatterbrained and he seems to not have a clear idea of where he stands on any issue. In regards to abortion, he has gone from arguing that Planned Parenthood should stay open and that abortion should be legal, to positing that there should be a punishment for women who have abortions (a stance unheard of even in regards to the most conservative), to changing his stance yet again to being anti-abortion, but backtracking his stance on punishment. He has incited violence, racism, and xenophobia nationwide and that is just the start.
When I posit that Ted Cruz isn't much better, most people think that I'm crazy. However, when it comes to the xenophobic and misogynistic policies, they align more than you would think. Cruz is anti-immigrant, anti-gay rights, and anti-abortion/women's rights and health. He has consistently made these serious topics into a joke. In one town hall, he claimed that the argument that women pose in regards to accessing birth control is "an utter made-up nonsense issue." He claimed that "there is no rubber shortage in America," which in no way is defending women's right to birth control. He's also said that no refugees should be allowed in the United States and other statements that are a far cry from democracy and equality.
When it comes to who would be a better president between Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, the answer may be a little blurry. However, when it comes to who would be a better president between Trump, Cruz, or either Democratic presidential hopeful, the answer becomes quite clear. Having one of these Republican men as president would be a tragedy. Due to this, I will not be speaking negatively of either Democratic candidate. Either one could be the nominee or our president. I will not give Republicans fuel for their arguments against one of the democratic nominees because it is clear that either would be better than the alternative.
