This presidential election is almost unbearable, but not because both candidates are bad. It’s a poor election because one candidate is clearly far more knowledgeable and qualified for the job, yet millions refuse to vote for her because of years of slander from the right and one lie about an email server.
This is not an election forcing you to vote for the lesser of the two evils. If you are an American who believes in equality, fairness, justice, kindness and compassion, you should already know Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump are not even close to the same, and Clinton is not evil in any way, shape or form.
As young voters and Wisconsinites, let’s stop buying into this garbage. Let’s look at the two candidates and decide who displays the values we hold and who does not.
Clinton is a moderate Democrat who has adopted a party platform based on equality and a fair shot for all. She supports a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, freedom of religion and equal rights for all.
Her foreign policy experience is impressive. She has spent more than a dozen years in and around the White House, with two of her greatest political and personal allies serving as president of the United States. She has legislated, negotiated and fought for policies both foreign and domestic, which improved the lives of Americans and citizens of the world alike. She has brought about positive change for decades and she will continue to do so (despite Republican obstruction) as president of the U.S.
In embarrassingly stark contrast, Donald Trump is a businessman from New York City. He has driven his companies into bankruptcy multiple times and has had 3,500 lawsuits filed against him. His greatest political claim to fame was as the leader of the birther movement, a group that refuted that President Barack Obama was a natural-born American citizen. Trump has continued his rhetoric on this issue despite the fact that Obama’s birth certificate was released.
Trump has adopted some odd mix of hardcore conservatism and white nationalism as his ideology, paired with a disturbing need to insult everyone and anyone who disagrees with his constant lies. He is blatantly racist, misogynistic and bigoted. He has not released a single competent policy plan on any aspect of foreign or domestic policy. He refuses to release his tax returns and he has spent a great deal of his presidential campaign discussing the excellent leadership of dictators like Vladimir Putin.
Just on policy and personality alone, Clinton should be winning by 50 points. But maybe it’s not their policies and experience. Maybe it’s about their rhetoric and ability to tell the truth.
Clinton maintains lead in presidential race for Wisconsin voters
That’s the prominent idea, right? Clinton is supposedly just an epic liar? The thing is, all evidence points to the contrary.
Just look at the difference in their Politifact rating. Seventy percent of the statements Donald Trump has been rated on are on the false side of the spectrum. In fact, 35 percent of his statements are outright false, while another 18 percent of his claims have been rated “pants on fire” — and this just the claims Politifact has chosen to rate. The fact of the matter is, when Trump talks, he is flat out lying. Not bending the facts, not saying things that are partially true. He is just making things up. That’s really troubling, even for a politician.
But what about Clinton? She has all those scandals, right? She must be right up there.
Nope.
Clinton, with all of her years under media scrutiny and the public spotlight, is not even close to the liar that Trump is. Only 27 percent of her claims are on the “false” spectrum. Certainly, 27 percent is too high, but compared to Trump she looks like a damn angel.
At the end of the day, the argument that these two are similar holds no merit. There is no discernible similarities in their personalities, their platforms, their rhetoric or their ability to tell the truth.
Wisconsin voter support tips toward Democrats in presidential race
If you want a president who lies to your face almost three quarters of the time, is openly racist and bigoted, has questionable ties to Russia and has no clue how to solve any of our countries issues, vote for Trump.
If you want a president who may not be perfect (is anybody?) but will fight for equality and fairness, tell us the truth when it matters and has the temperament, backbone and experience to be president, you should vote for Clinton, regardless of your party affiliation.
Connor Touhey ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in journalism, political science and history.
