Finally, the smoke has cleared, and Hillary Clinton is the Democratic candidate for the 2016 election, despite an onslaught of double-dealings, manipulation and outright voter fraud. This is bringing on mixed feelings from a lot of people, for a lot of reasons, from feminism to loss of freedom to whom she is up against.
For starters, it cannot be ignored that this is a huge step for the United States, albeit a long overdue one. The fact that we are just now getting a female presidential nominee is as ridiculous as, well, the fact that Obama was our first black president. And it is high time – to say that politics in America have been male-dominated is perhaps the understatement of the century.
But on the flipside, despite this monumental historical leap, many liberals and democrats are throwing up their hands in despair that Hillary got the nomination instead of Sanders. He has more progressive policies, much more in line with what a lot of liberal voters want, and he seemed to have more popular support than Clinton. Plus, do we really need a president who already has a scandal under her belt and has proven to be dishonest towards the American people? Some are equating electing Hillary to giving Nixon the nomination after Watergate, and the comparison really doesn’t seem that far off.
To even further confuse the issue, when it comes down to Hillary vs. Donald Trump, many feel that Trump is the greater of two evils. Outwardly racists and extremely old-fashioned in many of his views, many thought Trump would never make it this far in politics. Now, being faced with the choice to vote for either Trump or Hillary feels like a slap in the face, and being forced to choose between the lesser of two evils is never an ideal situation.
Of course, there is always the option to take the anarchist route and not vote, or to support a third party candidate, even though it is extremely doubtful they will win. But largely, it is looking like Clinton will be the choice for liberals choosing to vote in this upcoming election. While this year will surely go down in history for many reasons, the American people can no doubt think of quite a few better options for the female candidate to break this milestone. Yet sadly, we are resigned to the same stifling choice as the previous election and all the ones before it: Left or Right…
