Since most of us at U.N.H. are 18 and older, we get to cast our vote towards who will be our

country’s leader for the next four years, and for most of us, is the first time we get to participate

in a presidential election. Unfortunately, it is our task to decide between (what I see as) the lesser

of two evils.

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton and Donald John Trump represent the Democratic and

Republican candidates for this year’s election, respectfully, and both have caused considerable

controversy that makes things hard to decide who is even worth the vote by November 8 th .

Hilary Clinton has a history with the White House, government and other major political

endeavors. Once the First Lady, she now has the chance of being the first female President in the

US. She is much more open social issues such as women’s rights, gay marriage, and generally

seems to want to help indebted college kids and small businesses thrive under her presidential

term. However, her campaign is occasionally overshadowed by her past controversies.

With the Whitewater scandal, cattle futures controversy, and most recently, the email

controversy, where she was sending emails on her family’s private server, showing that she was

trying to act above the official State Department server. She has been exposed numerous times

for questionable acts and decisions, and it makes me wonder whether or not I can trust her on her

word sometimes.

Then we have Donald Trump. Complete honesty, you couldn’t be pay me three times his net

worth and get me to say I think he’s the perfect candidate for America forever even once. But it

wouldn’t be fair to neglect the fact he’s accomplished a few things in his life.

He’s built an extremely powerful and wealthy empire despite failing more than once. He is also

one who “listens to the people” since he is not a traditional politician, and “knows” what the

public might want. That does not hide the fact that he is racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic,

and is openly very rude to anyone who isn’t apparently a white, upper-class male. To think what

he could do to people I care about and the beliefs I stand for is a terrifying nightmare.

I’ve taken a long time to read up on their campaigns, watch as many debates as I could, and take

my time to decide. But there are times when I wished that this wasn’t my responsibility. Both of

these people bring up promises for a better tomorrow for the entire nation, when the entire nation

knows their history and what they have done in the past.

When I try hard to find positives about either of them, I ultimately remember who they are, what

they’ve done, and how hard I cringe at the thought of the next four years. What scares me most is

the thought that my vote really does count, and that vote can count towards potentially hurting

the people I love, or possibly bringing down important parts of what our nation stands for.

I do know who I want to vote for in the end, but that doesn’t mean that any of this was easy, and

that trying to take responsibility over choosing either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump is one I

wish was easier and not as stressful or fearful.