News Editor
As the impending 2020 election rolls around, many Americans spend time carefully analyzing potential presidential candidates. The time each candidate spends on the road campaigning showcases their policies and personalities to the American people. As we all know, candidates broadly identify as Democrats or Republicans. However, an underlying political animosity fills the atmosphere during this campaign season.
No matter what party they stand for, all politicians in America have common ground. However, lately, they seem to focus prominently on their differences, causing politics to take a nasty turn. It frustrates me that we cannot seem to put our pride aside to protect our government and the values we collectively stand for as American citizens. We may not all agree on healthcare policies, gun rights, or immigration. Still, we all believe in having a fair and well-regulated government.
I am a person of color, a daughter of two immigrant parents, an enthusiastic political science nerd, and a Democrat. I follow politics in my spare time, and, ultimately, I am incredibly passionate about this subject and the way it shapes the world around us. However, I find myself frustrated due to the current state of American politics. As someone who is a Democrat, I would prefer for the government to make liberal decisions, but I am an American first; therefore, I believe in a just government.
We need to stick to what we identify as moral ground. We cannot support people who do not fit with this moral ground, even if they give our party more power. I am not trying to say that this is an easy thing to do because we all have biases depending on our gender, race, and background, but we can do better. During previous administrations, we had a government that did not question the boundaries of our commander-in-chief, holding our Presidents accountable if they misstepped or committed a crime. However, the Trump administration cannot say the same.
One vital example of this was the recent Presidential impeachment trial. During this impeachment trial, I believe that the government failed to give President Trump a thorough trial considering all of the evidence presented, with regards to Ukraine. Because of this, I feel that the American government did not hold him accountable for the crimes and misdemeanors he committed. Republicans seemed to protect Trump because he is part of their party. Due to their dominant position in the senate, their party has more control over the governmental system. However, we must show President Trump that he, just like every other president, is not above the law. Republicans should have recognized this and moved to convict him of the offenses, to teach him that his actions were not acceptable. One outstanding member of this party is Mitt Romney, who stood up, even when the rest of his party was against him, for a fair and just government.
If a Democratic president were to land in a similar situation, my stance on this issue would stay the same. We need to fight against any threats to our democracy because no matter what party you are a part of, a fully-functioning American government is essential. Both of the main parties have flaws, and we stand for different policies. However, we can all agree that Americans deserve the best, and this includes our government. Democrats and Republicans alike need to band together to protect the American people and the integrity of our government, no matter what our differences are.
Categories: Opinion, Web Exclusive