There are 20 days until the Presidential election of 2016. Have you taken the time to consider your two main choices, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? Now given their record setting, high disapproval ratings, it should come as no surprise that making a choice may not be as easy as you expect. We all know Presidential candidates tend to be like used car salesmen. In this two part editorial, I am going to bring you through just a few things each of the candidates say. First I’ll present what they say about themselves, and then we will discuss the things they say about each other. In part two, we will find out what the truth is.
Hillary Clinton, the seasoned politician. It is in no doubt that she has the political resume to fit the brand created this election cycle. According to her website, here are just a few things that she promises to work toward if she is elected: “A fair tax system,” “An economy that works for everyone,” “Climate Change,” “Gun Violence prevention,” “Housing” and “Ensure the rich pay their fair share.”
Donald Trump, the successful businessman, has put an emphasis on his real estate empire as well as his “not a politician” status. Having never served in a political office, his branding also seems fitting. According to Trump’s website, here are just a few things he promises if he is elected: “Ensure our veterans get the care they need,” “Be the nation’s biggest cheerleader for school choice,” “Reduce taxes across-the-board, especially for working and middle-income Americans who will receive a massive tax reduction” and “Ensure the rich pay their fair share.”
Now don’t get me wrong, the issues section on each of their websites is downright riveting, but I want to get to the red meat of this entire piece. That is, what Clinton and Trump say about each other. What I can tell you for certain is that their back and forth has been nothing short of entertaining. With Trump’s childlike, “nah-nah-boo-boo” pokes and Clinton’s arrogant, holier than thou prods, I can’t help but grin with gluttony in deciding where to begin.
Clinton made headlines a few weeks back after she claimed that half of Trumps supporters are a “Basket of Deplorables”. Why she used the word ‘basket’ instead of box, crate or bushel, the world may never know. In response, Trump surprisingly took the high road tweeting “While Hillary said horrible things about my supporters, and while many of her supporters will never vote for me, I still respect them all!” However, don’t be tricked into thinking this is the norm.
Being the absolute master of diction that he is, Trump has labeled Clinton as “Crooked Hillary”. A name many of his most faithful supporters have adopted in their own rhetoric. Trump has gone on to cite the highly criticized decision by FBI Director James Comey to not recommend prosecution of Hillary for her use of an illegal email server. While not necessarily addressing this specific label, Clinton has launched a full out assault on Trump’s integrity by pointing out his “constant lies.”
In the second presidential debate, Trump said, responding to a criticism from Clinton, that he never tweeted “check out a sex tape” the week after the first presidential debate. This was entirely false. Clinton made sure the audience and everyone at home knew this. Pushing people to go to her website to view her team’s very own fact check of Trump.
Beyond the mistruths and other miscellaneous fibs, sexual assault has understandably become a focus point of the back and forth jabs this election cycle. Most recently, Clinton has made hay of Trump’s “Grab em by the pu**y” comments. Claiming that he is not fit to be President because of the way he denigrates women, whether it be on TV, Twitter or any other medium. Trump claiming it was simply “locker room talk,” pivoted and shot back with an attack on Clinton’s history of silencing and intimidating women that her husband, Bill Clinton, allegedly sexually assaulted.
Alright, how on earth did we make it to this point? It’s like we searched for the worst two possible candidates in all of the United States to be our leader and found them. The arrogant liar and the narcissistic liar. Next week, we will walk through what the truth is regarding some of the claims Clinton and Trump have made.
In the above piece, Colton Haas expresses "Alright, how on earth did we make it to this point?" Most Americans are just as perplexed as Colton Haas is.
But, since the presidential election is almost here, we unfortunately must logically choose either Donald or Hillary ... I guess our choice is really: which provides the most promise for the future of America? So, here's my take:
The vision of our beloved America with Hillary Clinton in the White House is not a pretty one. Here are three reasons why:
1. Hillary says that she will continue and enhance the policies of the Obama administration. But, the majority of Americans lack confidence that these policies have worked for the past eight years, and will work going forward.
2. Hillary's open-borders policy will destroy Americas' already weakened economy, and severely compromise the safety and security of the American people.
3. Hillary's promise to fund her proposals by increasing taxes on the wealthy simply won't work. The top 5% of earners already pay nearly 60% of federal taxes. Unless the broken IRS system is fixed, the wealthy will just find new loopholes that insulate them from paying additional taxes, and guess what, the middle class will get stuck paying instead.
These are only three reasons; there are many others: unemployment, health care, terrorism, and the list goes on.
The November election may be our last opportunity to preserve the vibrant, constitutional country America is meant too be.