Do you vote for Trump or do you vote for Clinton? For most American’s, these are the two choices we feel we have when selecting our next president. I have heard friends say they are voting for Hillary solely so Trump doesn’t get elected and that Bernie should have been the Democratic candidate.
I have heard strangers say they are not going to vote because “They don’t like Hillary or Trump” and they have better things to do than pick between, “a liar or a fraud.”
So are we stuck between picking the best worst candidate? There are others in this race who have not been adequately showcased solely based on their political party or because their ties aren’t red or blue.
There are other options for American voters. There is the Green Party candidate like Jill Stein and the Libertarian candidate like Gary Johnson. You can even write your own name in the ballot. But do you or these candidates have a shot in winning this year’s election? No! Next year’s election? Maybe. In my lifetime? Absolutely! Here is why:
For the country and generation known for having so many options, Millennials don’t like being told there are merely two choices. We as Millennials, we as the largest generation, we as consumers and voters will demand more choices from our political candidates like we do with everything else. We like options.
We are already showing America we want more. The fact that it is national news that the Libertarian candidate and Green Party are filing lawsuits to be able take part in the upcoming debate shows we are making steps, small steps, to demanding more choices.
Over the past century, we have demanded more choices from our brands, companies and even how we watch TV. When consumers demand more, they get more because companies want to stay in business.
We are demanding more choices and more options from our political parties and we will get them soon. Again, it might not happen this election but the American political system is changing and soon we will be known as having several parties. I might even be so futuristic and bold to say in the next election we as Millennials will be responsible for electing the politician verse their political party.
Other political parties are not a foreign process to electing our president. Our founding president didn’t even belong to a party. From 1841 to 1853, four out of five of our presidents were part of the Whig Party! Congress, the senate, the president, our government would get more done if they focused on values verses what side of the aisle they sat on. We as Millennials know this and we as Millennials are doing something about it!
Having multiple political parties is not a foreign concept to electing other countries’ presidents. Our allies in England, Italy and Australia (to name a few) all have more than two political parties to choose from when electing federal and state employees.
These changes will take time and they will go into effect during my lifetime because seeing is believing. Now young girls growing up can actually believe they can be a Presidential candidate one day. Now we can see that a Presidential candidate can make a large stride to the top without Super PAC donations. Now we know there are other options out there other than red and blue.
These third party and independent candidates will keep fighting. They will keep forging along and Millennials will make the bold move to one day vote for the person verses the party because Millennials are motivated by personal values, not political parties.
Political party leaders have been known for sticking with the candidate for party reasons instead of the person’s individual values and this is something I see changing in the very near future. Maybe even our next election because my generation wants transparency. We want universal values. We crave someone we can trust.
Most Americans are not fully Republican or fully Democratic. No matter who you are voting for, there are things you like and dislike about each candidate so why fight for the party when you can fight for the person? Why wear a red tie when you don’t have to wear a tie at all?
Frankly baby-boomers are a dying breed. Millennials are sprouting seeds that have room to significantly plant our roots in the ground and change the course of our political system in our country.
So how else will we change the course of our political system in our country? The same way we have come together for causes we believe in over the past years. We are the generation responsible for generating millions of dollars in crowd-funding campaigns. We are the generation responsible for spending more money than any other generation on consumer goods. We are the generation responsible for creating significant awareness through a tweet and trending Facebook post.
We are more likely to buy, wear and share a candidate’s merchandise and post it all over every social media outlet we utilize. We are more likely to significantly improve brand awareness for the candidate we want to win through our own networks.
We are more likely to find, post and share a candidate’s true colors through research and digging up dirt because we want transparency and authenticity from our leaders and we are willing to share what we find. Think of the progress we have made in the last few elections with what we have done with social media alone! We are capable of lifting a candidate up with a trending twitter feed or tearing them down with an SNL skit that then goes viral.
How else will Millennials be responsible for changing the American political system? We outnumber any other generation. There are more of us, than there are of any other generation. We as Millennials are not coming – we have arrived. We are more than voters. We are now running for office ourselves and the more we see our fellow Millennials stepping into office and our own generation represented in office the faster we will see a political shift in electing the person instead of the party.
Soon things will change and we will demand more choices from our political system in America and Millennials are the ones to change it.
We will soon start voting on the politician’s values verse their political party and won’t see red, blue or green, rather the person behind the position. That is when we will actually make America great again and be stronger together.
