If you were to ask me this question, my answer would be I have no
clue. How does one compare and contrast two drastically different people? On the one hand, Bernie Sanders is the outspoken liberal-bordering-on- socialist candidate who reflects my ideals perfectly; and on the other hand, Hillary Clinton is the powerful, passionate, and successful woman that I have always wanted to see as a president. So what are the pros and cons of the two candidates? How will he or she win the presidency? And, even more importantly, what would be his or her downfall? First, we start with Bernie Sanders. Currently a senator of Vermont, Sanders is known as a Democratic socialist whose priorities include addressing and solving the economic challenges in America (i.e. stagnant wages, declining unionism, and college debt) (nytimes.com). He is also popular for his fight against big money in politics, and is especially critical of the Supreme Courts decision in the Citizens United case (recap: SCOTUS decided it was okay for corporations to spend as much as they want to convince people to vote for or against a candidate on the grounds that they are an association of individuals and therefore protected by the First Amendment (publicintegrity.org)). He is also a fighter for basically all forms of rights, equality, and justice in the world: racial justice, womens rights, LGBTQ equality, veterans rights, immigrants rights, etc. (berniesanders.com). With all of these beautifully progressive ideals, why wouldnt one vote for Sanders? Well the answer is in the question itself: Sanders is just too damn liberal for the rest of America. It always pains me to admit that there are parts of America that are opposed to gay marriage, that allow the color of ones skin to determine their capabilities, that believe that women are inferior to men, etc., that are simply dying to destroy Sanders campaign. But even within the Democratic Party, there are more moderate/centrist voters who may find Sanders too radical for their taste. Thus, many Democrats have their reservations when it comes to Sanders, for they worry that if he were to win the Democratic primary, many of the centrist-bordering-on- Republican Democrats may indeed cross that border for the general election. Now onto Hillary Clinton. Formerly known as Secretary of State for President Obamas first administration, a Senator of New York, and, of course, a former First Lady, Hillary Clinton has the campaign weapon of experience under her belt. Many of her priorities include fighting the income inequality, boosting the middle class, and promoting womens rights (nytimes.com). In fact, one of her most famous speeches was given at the United Nations Fourth Conference on Women, in which she proudly declared that human rights are womens rights and womens rights are human rights once and for all (americanrhetoric.com). There is no question that Hillary is a fierce and passionate candidate who refuses to let gender inequality get the best of herand as a woman myself, I find that extremely empowering. However, like most Democrats, I too have my doubts about Clinton. For one, her recent email scandal has led many to question her ability to be professional; after all, our future president cannot be mixing personal matters with national (and even international) issues. Furthermore, Clintons campaign so far has been primarily financed by corporate donations (or basically everything Sanders is against). On top of that, Clinton is currently struggling to win the support of white-working class men (who have increasingly shifted towards the Republican party) and the support of young people (nytimes.com). True, Clinton is motivating and inspirational, but those qualities can only take one so far. If Clinton plans on winning the Democratic nomination and then the presidency, then she also needs to prove that she is consistent in her ideals, dedicated to her constituents, and not another byproduct of corrupt politics. Both Democratic candidates clearly have their strengths and (unfortunately) weaknessesbut at the end of the day, only one of them can be the Democratic nominee (assuming that Lincoln Chafee, Lawrence Lessig, Martin OMalley, and Jim Webb all lose the primary). So who should the Democratic party nominate as their next presidential candidate? Honestly, I still do not have an answerand I do not know if I ever will. But I hope that after reading this post, you, my reader, will feel prepared to make an educated vote in the primary, like the dedicated Democrat you are.