Sorry, Donald Trump is President of the United States. As much as you may be with “her,” she is not the future of the Democratic Party. Barack’s job is done, he is not Superman and won’t be swopping in to save the day. Party partisan politics has not united us, it has divided us.
It has been exactly one year and two months since the polls opened and millions of Americans cast their vote for the individual who would succeed President Obama. Much like the final episode of The Voice, millions of Americans voted and the results were not exactly what you expected.
Since election day, the country has ignored a lesson we learn early in life—that in a competition there is going to be a winner and loser and if your side doesn’t win you don’t give up, you maintain focus for the next competition. Instead, we have been divided by partisan ideals and beliefs and would could have been.
Thus, we must focus on the future and not dwell on the past. We cannot change what has already happened, but we sure can change things so that future is better than the past. The upcoming midterm elections are our way to do just that because they are critically important and spending an excessive amount of time and energy figuring out how to possibly impeach President Trump, or waiting to hear what former President Obama has to say about current events, or if Secretary Clinton will possibly run again are fruitless efforts.
Instead, the focus should be on the seats that are up for grabs in Congress that will determine the future of our universal health care system, economic development, student loans, immigration reform, and much more. These are issues that will have long term effects on our country and extend well past partisan bickering and hard feelings. We live in a country where the government is for the people and by the people, which means we have the power to change things and can get our government back on track and focusing on things that we hold to be important.
In order to make our government work for us, we can do some very simple things. First, we can make sure that we register to vote. If you are already registered to vote, make sure your friends and family are also registered to vote. Second, we need to stop relying on the two major parties to tell us who we should vote for and how we should think. This era of partisan politics is doing more harm than good and by allowing the parties to have control over who we vote for and why we vote for them only takes the power out of our hands and puts it in theirs.
Technology makes it very easy for us to instantaneously find out any information we would like. The same way that you find out about what your favorite celebrity is up to or when the latest designer product is going to be available, you can easily find out information about the various public offices, who is running for them, and what they stand for. You wouldn’t buy a car without first doing some research about it, so we shouldn’t elect our leaders without having done our due diligence.
Third, we need to be open to have meaningful conversations about the issues that are important to us and who would be the best person(s) to ensure that these issues are handled/resolved in the right way. Having political discussions does not have to lead to a knock down drag out argument. Instead think about it from this prospective, on a daily basis we may have conversations about our favorite sports teams or what happens on our favorite television show and everyone may not have the same opinion as you. Does that stop you from having a conversation about the topic with them? Probably not. The same can be said for political discussions, everyone is entitled to their opinion. Sometimes you may sway someone to your side, other times you will not, but you still have conversations with them. Simply, this is the only way we are going to solve problems in this country is by being respectful and learning from one another to develop a solution we all agree upon.
Fourth, we need to take time out of our schedules to actually fight for the causes we believe in. I’m not saying you need to devote every last minute you have free to the cause, but helping out once a week or every other weekend can go a long way. As the saying goes, “close mouths don’t get feed,” the same goes for causes we care about. If no one bothers to take the time to fight for them, they won’t be solved or addressed.
Finally, and most importantly, we have to make sure that we actually show up to vote, encourage, and bring others to vote with us. This is the only way that we can ensure that our voice is actually heard. I know. I know. You have been told that your vote (voice) doesn’t matter, but it does. A poll may tell you that candidate X is winning by a wide margin or that your city, town, or state almost always goes red or blue. Or that the popular vote may say one thing and the Electoral College may appear to do another. These are simply just devices to discourage you from going out to vote.
The truth of the matter is that polls can be wrong (which is why they have margins of error) and what happened in the past is not always an indicator of what can happen in the future. The Electoral College is a mechanism that has been in place since the founding of the country and even if we may not like it, only four times in its history has the Electoral College voted contrary to that of the popular vote. Plus, it was put into place as a means to protect larger states from being more powerful than smaller states—ensuring a protection of minority rights (even if we don’t agree with them at times).
Therefore, you will not really actually know if your vote was needed until the results are already in. By that time the decision has been made for you. Wouldn’t you rather have your voice heard and counted than be heard and not counted?
Maybe if we implement these action items the results of this election won’t feel rigged like this year’s final tribal council of Survivor: Heroes v. Healers v. Hustlers—where Chrissy Hofbeck clearly had the more impressive game play resume, compared to the winner (of circumstance) Bryan Driebergen. If so, American maybe able to finally get the government back to doing work for the people and not in the interest of political parties and career politicians.