Why I’m Voting For Hillary Clinton Even If I’m Not Her Biggest Fan

I have a confession to make. I was never a big Hillary Clinton fan – even during the 2008 primaries. She seemed to exemplify the status quo and rode her husband’s coattails to become a New York senator.

In a perfect world, Bernie Sanders would have been the 2016 Democratic nominee for president. However, to say that life doesn’t always happen as planned would be an understatement. Because, sure. A small amount of Bernie Sanders fans might feel disenfranchised. But the idea of “Bernie or bust” is dangerous because Donald Trump cannot be elected the next president of the United States.

One point Hillary should be applauded for was mentioning how Reaganomics doesn’t work during the debate. Yet somehow Republicans scream, “blasphemy” at the idea. Hillary is 100 percent correct since the rich getting richer only helps them, not the average person. The reality is, mentioning income inequality doesn’t make someone a socialist or communist – it makes that person fair. George Bush decimated the middle class from 2001-2009 by favoring the rich. And having someone who is an elite (Donald Trump) think he’ll help the average person is laughable at best. Because, yeah. Obama might not have been a perfect president, but sometimes stopping things from getting worse is a struggle in of its own.

Donald Trump’s lack of support for the LGBTQ community also illustrates why he cannot become president. America is diverse, and people’s differences is what makes the USA great because the country would be boring if everyone was the same. People shouldn’t judge something just because they might be afraid of the unknown. Trump also looked desperate at the Republican convention during the summer by making one vague nice comment about wanting to protect the LGBTQ community. Because sometimes idealistic sentiments are true. His words were “a little too little too late.” Like it or not, Hillary Clinton has been vocal in supporting the LGBTQ community during the 2016 primaries and presidential campaign. She was the one that made the video emphasizing how LGBTQ kids can grow up to have a great future just like their straight peers. Sure. One could argue that Hillary Clinton hasn’t always supported the LGBTQ community since she used to not favor gay rights. But politicians aren’t perfect and make mistakes. The only difference is people are quick to judge politicians because they are on a world stage. People also need to remember Hillary Clinton isn’t the only American who has evolved on LGBTQ issues since society in general has become more tolerant. Because having someone admit when being wrong is a much better alternative than someone who is stubborn and too emotional, which brings up another point…

The fact remains, Donald Trump doesn’t carry himself with enough poise. The last thing America needs would be for him to insult the president of North Korea. Having a politician speak his or her mind sounds like a great idea. However, words have consequences. And just like with any other job, professionalism is required if someone is president of America.

Hillary Clinton also deserves props for encompassing some of Bernie Sander’s agenda since she supports debt-free/tuition-free college. Wanting an education isn’t a radical idea since students shouldn’t have to sign their lives away with student loans. After all, society demands students go to college. Check that. Society just doesn’t demand students go to college, it practically forces them by bombarding teens with the slogan of “how teens will be failures and will only work at McDonalds if they don’t pursue a college degree.” The student loan debt debacle must be addressed because that’s another example of societal “smoke and mirrors.” Drowning in debt favors the rich/1 percent because economic mobility is pretty difficult when trying to pay off student loans. If Wall Street can be bailed out, so should college students. Because whether the 1 percent knows it or not, Main Street matters.

Trump’s bigotry should also be alarming. He might appear slightly calmer now. But making derogatory statements about Mexicans and Muslims isn’t just wrong. It’s bigoted. Sure. One could argue that America needs to fix its immigration policy and be concerned with national security. But that doesn’t require xenophobia and racism. People might think Trump is just talking and that there’s no way genocide could happen in America since it’s the 21st century after all. Genocide doesn’t just happen overnight though as Nazi Germany articulated.

Intolerance festers until people of a different religion or nationality are dehumanized and it is suddenly acceptable to do terrible things to them.

And even if Trump is just “blowing smoke,” racist rhetoric has no place in American politics or society in general since it only encourages division. So the idea that he’s “smart” because he isn’t afraid of being politically correct should definitely be making more people shake their heads. Looking foolish is the only Trump accomplishes and more people should be smarter and not fall for his rhetoric.

The notion that Trump is a businessman and is therefore qualified to be president is unfathomable. One only needs to look at Trump University or Trump Vodka to know being a businessman doesn’t mean someone is God. America has become a little too obsessed with big business and would do well to be more concerned about the average person.

So, yeah. I might not be screaming my support for Hillary Clinton from the rooftops, but I’m “with her” (as the social media slogan says).

Because all joking aside, Trump saying, “I’ll make America great again” really does sound like something that would have been featured in a Stalin or Nazi Germany propaganda film.

People might comment about how the 2008 presidential election was an important election-and it was. But the 2016 presidential election is even more critical. Voters have a choice to make between the party that cares about the average person (the Democrats) and the party that drinks the Kool Aid of if it helps the 1 percent it must be good for the average person-even if it isn’t (the Republicans). America already got a glimpse of bad Republican politics during Bush’s presidency and what an elite for president would be like when Mitt Romney ran in 2012.

And you know what? That was enough.