As we’re too often reminded, this is unlike any American presidential match-up in history. The first woman to reach this epic point vs. the first candidate to be unqualified in both experience and temperament.
What’s been particularly frustrating and, frankly, mystifying are the myriad polls that show this race eerily close. As if this were, say, Clinton vs. John Kasich, where differences didn’t include one candidate being an existential threat to the United States and its place in the world.
Exhibit A for a flummoxed electorate may be what we’ve been seeing with younger voters. Polls show Clinton barely over 50 percent with the 18-29 demographic, well below the 66 percent Barack Obama drew four years ago
Part of it is the Bernie Sanders hangover combined with Hillary Clinton indifference–or worse. The other part is that young people more often than not don’t vote anyway. The turnout in 2012 was only 45 percent. By all accounts, young people will be voting in even smaller percentages in November. The establishment candidate without the spiky-brand, populist appeal of a Bernie Sanders or an Elizabeth Warren vs. the reality TV celebrity who gives ignorance and bigotry a bad name is not a ballot-box magnet for younger voters.
And, seemingly, whether that demographic is on a college campus or not doesn’t make any difference. A recent Tampa Bay Times article, “Young Voters Cool to Clinton,” was a sobering sampling of students, including at USF, not impressed with either candidate. To the point where not voting or opting for Jill Stein or Gary Johnson could be the likely scenario.
I get the Bernie disappointment. I also get the Barack Obama charisma void that Clinton can’t come close to filling. And I get the off-putting choice that Clinton-Trump is to many voters, including those on college campuses.
But let’s be candid–and sane–here. You cannot legitimately equate Clinton and Trump in their unimpressiveness. That’s not fair to Clinton. Or the United States.
A former First Lady, New York senator and Secretary of State–disingenuous, secretive ways notwithstanding–can’t be equated with Dr. Strangelove meets Benito Mussolini.
This is about putting your country first. And voting to keep a narcissistic con artist out of the White House. The reasons are beyond manifest. Or they should be to the next generation smart enough to be enrolled in a university.
BTW, USF will hold a mock presidential election on Oct. 17.