The 2016 Presidential Election was certainly an historical one. That was mostly for all the wrong reasons. I know that everyone’s experiences were different, but I wanted to give my take away on the whole situation.
In 2008, I cast my first presidential vote for Obama. In 2012, I voted for him again. I like to think of myself as a “super liberal.” Until 2016, I was a straight blue voter.
The Democrats weren’t perfect in my mind. I have always compared the Republican Party and the Democratic Party to people who are lacking an essential body part. For the Republicans, it’s a heart. For the Democratic Party, it was their spine. In general, I believed the Democrats were the “good guys,” but were too timid to go for what they really wanted. The Republicans were the “bad guys,” but in a way you had to admire their commitment to their craziness.
I’m a political junkie. So I knew who Bernie Sanders was before he announced his run for president. I know that wasn’t the case for everyone though. He started off with only 3% support nationally. By the end of the Primary, I believe he won 22 states and 46% of the vote. An incredible feat really, considering the way the DNC and media conspired against him. (The DNC pulled every dirty trick in the book and the media basically ignored him, unless it was to insult him or to gently rib him about being unrealistic.)
I started out this election, fully supporting Bernie Sanders. I would have held my nose for Clinton though. By the end of the election, I came to revile everything that she stood for. Hillary Clinton apparently was far more important to the Democratic Party than their values.
For example, the Democratic Party has generally been known as the “Dove-ish” Party. Republicans were the Hawks. Yet, the Democrats chose to shove through a woman who had supported the Iraq War and was a horrible Sec of State. Not to mention, our Noble Peace Prize winning President Obama dropped over 26,000 bombs on seven different countries in 2016 alone.
The Democratic Party likes to portray itself as the dove party. They like to pretend that they care about the people. They like to pretend that they care about equality.
In reality, it’s a dove with talons. They lure you in with nice rhetoric and the moment your back is turned, they will slash you with their talons economically. On economics, they really aren’t that much better than the Republicans. Besides Bernie Sanders, can you really name one Democrat that talks about cutting our military budget and using it to help our people instead?
When Bernie lost, I was heart broken. That’s when I heard about Jill Stein. Unlike Bernie, who fought with one hand behind his back, she didn’t pull any punches. Here was someone that completely represented my values.
The Green Party wanted to deal with the crisis of student loan debt, they wanted a Green New Deal, they wanted to get out of these senseless wars. On every issue that I knew of that was important to me, I agreed with them.
Unfortunately, the system is rigged against Third Parties. Did you know that for Jill Stein and Gary Johnson (the Libertarian Candidate who ran in 2016), to enter the debates, they needed to hit 15% of the popular vote in five national polls? Polls that were chosen by the people in power.
What they don’t tell you about the polls is the following. In some of them, Gary and Jill weren’t even listed. There was even one CNN poll where they didn’t poll a single person under 35. (Which is one of the strongest bases of support for Third Parties.)
I learned this election, that Americans will generally sit back and take anything. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were put up for the main contenders. A woman who has no core value system and will sell herself to the highest bidder vs. a clown who was literally a reality tv show star. And still, most people who bothered to vote, chose one of them.
There is good news though. Over 40% of Americans are not registered as Republicans or Democrats. People are disgusted with the two party system. So I have hopes that the Green Party will eventually fill the void. Democrats have lost control of all three branches of government. If there was ever a time to start organizing, it would be now.
That is why I’m so happy to be a writer for this site. I feel that this will be a great place to organize and form friendships which will serve us well as we try to achieve more political representation. The Republican and Democratic Party no longer represent the people, only their donors.
That is why I'm proud to support the Green Party and hope that you feel the same way.
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