Opinion

Being anti-Trump doesn’t make me pro-Hillary

By Kacy Hobbis ’17

September 29, 2016

The 2016 Presidential Election is the first presidential election that I will be able to vote in. While this might seem quite nerdy, it’s is a day that I have been eagerly awaiting since I fell in love with politics. As the date has drawn nearer and the 2016 election has unfolded, Tuesday, Nov. 8, has become a date that I am se- riously dreading. The thought of casting my ballot for Hillary Clinton makes me a bit queasy, but the thought of voting for Donald Trump is downright frightening. It feels like we are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

With about six weeks until the elec- tion, I cannot believe the place that we are in, and the decision we voters are going to have to make. While it was al- ways pretty clear that Clinton would win the Democratic primary, the Republican primary was up in the air for most of it. Bernie Sanders put up a bigger fight than many expected, but Clinton had the party backing and didn’t have to work too hard to clinch the nomination.

The Republican primary was different. Many big name establishment Republicans went out early, while Trump’s star kept rising. While I was taking part in the Hamilton Semester in Washington Program, some of us attended anAnti-Iran Deal Rally on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. We weren’t particularly interested in the con- tent. We wanted to see the main attraction of Ted Cruz saying crazy things, with Trump as a sideshow. Here it was clear that Trump’s rhetoric was resonating with voters. It was the first time that a Trump candidacy seemed viable, and something to be afraid of. I think most people who follow politics are surprised about how we got here, and aren’t quite too thrilled with the choices.

This election is historic for a few reasons. This is the first time there has been a woman as the presidential nominee of a major party. While I am happy that we are moving towards more equal representation (though not even close—currently less than 20 percent of members of the House of Representa- tives are female), I just wish it were with a nominee that I trusted and felt was less corrupt. This leads to the other historic nature of this election: how disliked the candidates are. In a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC poll Clinton had a favorability rating of 40 percent while Trump was slightly behind at 37 percent. It is clear that people aren’t happy with their options. So many people, myself included, aren’t voting based on who they like. They are voting for whom they dislike the least. This is something especially seen on the Republican side. There has never been such a divisive candidate who uses the rhetoric that Trump does. He is bringing out a different and fairly ugly side of the Republican Party. This is why there are so many high-pow- ered Republicans refusing to endorse the standard bearer of their party.

Most notably, former President George H.W. Bush has allegedly endorsed Clinton to some close friends. This isn’t much of a surprise, as many of H.W. and W.’s security advisors and cabinet secre- taries have endorsed Clinton. Republicans are fed up with the irresponsible com- ments made by their nominee. Former presidential nominee Mitt Romney has made no secret of his hatred of Trump. He has openly refused to endorse Trump, and has been denouncing Trump’s racism and xenophia trying to persuade other members of the GOP to think carefully for whom they are voting. While he hasn’t endorsed Clinton and has mentioned look- ing into third-party candidates, he is very much in the #NeverTrump camp. I find myself very much agreeing with Romney this campaign cycle.

Not only is Trump’s rhetoric disgusting, it is arguably dangerous. He has some- how managed to say something negative about almost every group of people. So many things that come out of his mouth are just blatantly incorrect, and offensive on so many levels. Sorry Trump, but not all Mexican immigrants are rapists, drug dealers and murderers. It is horrible that someone who is supposed to be the stan- dard bearer for my party believes these things and has the audacity to state them as facts. How can he expect people to vote for him when he is insulting an en- tire country’s population with slanderous speech? There seems to be a theme in the Trump campaign of ignoring facts and stretching the truth. That just isn’t okay, and is something that voters need to con- sider. It is amazing how much Trump can talk without saying anything substantial about policy. For many of us, this is our first time voting in a presidential election, and we deserve better candidates than the ones presented to us.

The biggest threat to the Republican Party with Trump at the top of the ticket is the down-ballot races. We have to re- member that the presidency is only one branch of the government. Congress is the branch that actually writes and votes on laws. The biggest impact of the Trump candidacy could come by making it easier for Democrats to take back the Senate and House of Representatives. With so many people who just vote based on the party they are selecting for the presidency, there is a real chance that Republican candidates running for lower offices will be harmed by the unpopularity of our nominee.

It is up to the members of the GOP to follow Mitt Romney’s lead and denounce the hateful speech being spewed by our nominee. While a vote for Trump is a dangerous vote, voting for Clinton isn’t something that I want to do. But if the election continues down this path, there will be no other choice. Donald Trump is not my candidate, and he is not the Re- publican Party.

All Opinion