This article is split into four sections, with several TAMIU students explaining their reasoning behind voting for one of this year’s four major candidates.
America or Americo?
By Carmen Garcia, Staff Writer
The climate of American society and politics damaged the outcome of this November election. While Hillary was able to win the popular vote, she failed to win the electoral vote. For one, she might have failed to target the right states. In addition, some claim there is a gender issue.
This is not the first time a candidate wins by the popular vote, but does not win the presidential chair: back in 1824, Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but got less than 50 percent of the electoral votes, making John Quincy Adams the next president when he was picked by the House of Representatives. In 1876 Samuel Tilden won the popular vote but lost the election when Rutherford B. Hayes got 185 electoral votes to Tilden’s 184. In 1888, Benjamin Harrison won 233 electoral votes to Grover Cleveland’s 168. In modern history, Al Gore won the popular vote but lost the 2000 election to George Bush, 271 to 255 in the Electoral College.
In the now-most highly contested election in recent years this election comes as no different, with Hillary winning the popular vote but only 228 electoral votes against Trump’s 279. Clinton’s neglect of the “blue wall” region—Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—and her failure to fully mobilize her party’s own base cost her the presidency, according to GOP pollster Gene Ulm.
“Donald Trump brought a new calculation, a new way of winning (these states), but part of that was her colossal failure,” said Ulm. “She did not turn out and galvanize the Obama coalition.”
It is imperative to note that general college graduates voted 49 percent for Hillary, while Trump’s supporters were only 45 percent in the same cluster. Population with a Postgraduate degree had the majority vote of 58 percent for Hillary, opposed to 67 percent of whites without a college degree for Trump. Even more significant, 53 percent of the entire male population voted for Trump and 54 percent of women for Hillary, highlighting the issue of gender.
The several sexist remarks made by then-Republican candidate Trump sparked the controversy that followed him over the continuous months of the race up until Election Day.
How can America be accepting of a man that insults reporter Megyn Kelly for “bleeding” and fat-shames former Miss Universe Alicia Machado; a man that states women need to be “grabbed by the pussy;” a now-elected leader that has faced multiple assault allegations, including one from a former wife? Even more so, a man with no political experience. This is a man that put himself forward for the presidential chair against a woman whose career, marked with milestones, has steered her for the ultimate leadership position in our country.
This race showed us what the millennial woman is facing: being professionally prepared for a job she cannot land.
Why Not?
By Ilse Amaro, Karen Avila, André Hernandez, Eloy Santa Cruz, and Carla Torres
To say that America has been uprising toward a breaking point is nothing short of an understatement. In recent days, America gave way with former president Barack Obama with intentions of finding a prosperous new president at the helm. Republican candidate Donald Trump pulled off a miraculous upset over the predicted winner in Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The world has seemed to be in awe; resulting in many youthful protesters voicing America’s counter against the ‘yet to sworn president’. Although America has been seemingly divided in recent days; where is the voice of the innumerable few that opted out of voting?
In the eyes of many non-voters, the response as to why most people chose to not vote seemed to be very apparent. In recent discussions, the problem seems to lie with the fact that both candidates do not seem fit enough to run a country as powerful as the United States. Although Democratic Nominee Hillary Clinton was set on maintaining the democratic status in the White House, she was a woman who in recent months has been the center of controversy. Her personal email server was the center of much investigation after claims of deleting thousands of emails for no particular reason. Although she was not incriminated for any crimes committed, she changed the perspective of many Americans weeks before the election. People of the United States felt no choice but to question her trustworthiness.
Now with President-Elect Donald Trump, the problems lie in the fact that many non-voters found little connection with a man of little politics. During a recent interview, it was mentioned that the Republican nominee used to have a reality television show. “It is very hard to imagine that a person who has been in the limelight for decades is going to be our Commander in Chief. All across the world people know Mr. Trump as a business capitalist and to hear that our ultimate business man is now our leader is a bit skeptical.”
Over the course of the next four years, time will reveal whether or not Trump is fit enough to lead this nation. He is a man of great character and promise. People across the nation will continue to counter the election; however, the final bid has been counted and we now have a new president. Peoples’ ideas may clash, but no result can be better than each voice being heard, even if that means not casting a ballot.
Fading Hopes and Goals in Politics
By Josue Jimenez and Juan J. Castillo
Presidential debates have been, by far, the most interesting and blood boiling event worldwide. The whole world was engaged in the debates. Bernie Sanders was a very loved and respected candidate yet lost in the presidential election.
So what happened to all the hype of Sanders and his goals? It all got lost when he commended Hilary. However, many ignored another candidate. Jill Stein was a similar version of Sanders. People seemed to have been more focused on the more popular parties and forgot about the others. Jill Stein could have been the hope for all those people who were going for Sanders.
So what went wrong? Simple, she didn’t get as much coverage due to the fact that her party is not a popular party. If more people could have known about her, maybe we wouldn’t have been so uneasy about the president of the United Sates. Stein was also going to make college much more affordable, which was a selling point with Sanders.
Another reason that maybe she didn’t win was for the same reason Clinton did not win. What’s the reason? Gender issues. Maybe the U.S. may not be ready to have a woman run our country or even a homosexual. The county is not ready yet. However, with the new thoughts of new generations we have a more open mind. So maybe when we are in our forties we might have a woman or a homosexual president. Maybe even a transgender president. Some of the big issues that Stein wants to tackle included having billionaires pay their share of their taxes, fix the judicial system which seems to always have poor excuses to incarcerate people, since prisons are a big source of money-making and end high stakes school testing that doesn’t really focus on what the student knows. Trump and Clinton only seem to focus more on the issues that affect our relations with other countries and issues that benefit their own party which doesn’t help our nation grow or recover.
Stein inspired the next generation of young voters that could one day help us get closer to getting the president that we really need. The problem with us is that we don’t really take part in voting, which is why the older population dominates at the polls; unfortunately, they are not really up-to-date with the changing times. Jill Stein stood for everything that this country needs to be done in order for it to grow and become the power it once was. Today’s politics are too focused on what only benefits them and the people that have more control over everything that we are involved in, so none of the candidates really touched on what can help everyone else out. Jill Stein could’ve helped us move from the shadow that still plagues us such as racism, sexism, etc. Hopefully, one day she or any other person that shares her views can step in and fix all that is wrong with us.
Why I Voted For Gary Johnson
By Melissa Castro
Most people are reluctant to vote for a third party candidate and compare it to throwing away a vote but I, frankly, beg to differ. In a nation that is dominated by either total conservatism or total liberalism, I say we need a system that represents and promotes balance.
Firstly, it is so obvious that some social issues that were once considered radical have now changed i.e gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana in some states, and even abortion. All concepts of controversy, but all became accepted and most citizens are not affected by these legalization but rather benefit from them. I don’t believe it has to be mentioned how much medical marijuana has benefited those with PTSD and epileptic seizures, how the freedom to marry whoever you wish is so enlightening and graceful, and how woman are able to determine what they chose to do with their own bodies as morally humane. These are all social issues that 2016 Libertarian presidential nominee Gary Johnson is in favor for. I was happy to finally find someone who shared the same social issues I did, but then the serious stuff, and rather, more important stuff came into play.
I’ve always said, just because society and science advances does not mean that our economy, foreign policies, immigration, and the ideology that government should infringe on basic human rights like the enforcement of health care, “or else” concept, should be viewed nonchalantly. These are the priorities that should be considered with a humble and conservative gaze in order to protect and ensure freedom in the United States. Gary Johnson proposed differences in all three of these aspects that I salute. As for jobs and our economy, Johnson proposed to, “cut over-regulation that is stifling entrepreneurs and small businesses” meaning that small-businesses have the chance to boom and be innovative. Our economy also fluctuates a lot based on the deficit and budget of the nation, but Johnson proposed, “Cutting military spending and reforming entitlement programs” Though I have personally always believed that our nation should have a strong military, according to the discretionary spending in 2015, found on NationalPriorities.org, out of $1.11 trillion dollars spent by the U.S government, a whopping 53.7% is for the military which is basically half.
This leaves food & agriculture, transportation, science, energy and environment, international affairs, housing and community, veteran’s benefits, Medicare and health, education, and government all within the 6%-1% range of government spending. The differences are perplexing. On foreign policies and military duty, the Johnson administration would assure that, “the role of the military and foreign policy would be to protect Americans from harm and allow us to exercise our freedoms.”
Johnson is anti-policing around the world which he suggests, “keeps the country in a state of perpetual war.” On immigration, Johnson proposed background checks in order to get a work visa and Social Security card so they could pay taxes. This seems fair coming from a former governor of a border state. Lastly, and most importantly, health-care is the main reason why Johnson won my vote. With his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, Johnson supports a free-market health care system that lowers cost through competition. This is perfect, people should have the choice to buy health care, just like we have the choice to buy anything else. Citizens should also be able to purchase health care from any state they wish. Why should anyone be forced to have something and then be punished when you decide not to? Total infringement of our unalienable rights and a total failure by our soon-to-be-out administration.
What I appreciate about Johnson is his belief in non-infringement between the U.S government and the people when regarding basic social issues. But he also takes into account the protection of our nation and the value of freedom greatly into account. Though he needed a reaffirmation of what Aleppo is, a Syrian city being terrorized, I believe Johnson answered that question evenly by saying, “I think the only way to deal with Syria is to join hands with Russia and diplomatically bring that at an end.” The response was clear and solid and made perfect sense. I strongly believe his presidency would have been a great one; after all he is a calm and poised man with a great sense of humor and a passion for peace and freedom is truly what it means to be a patriot of a nation.
