Hello everyone and welcome back to another blog post!
I think this is going to be the last one I do for the next few months, so of course it has to be a big one.
At least, in my mothers opinion it does.
So I'm not sure if I've told you all, but for history class this year I've been following the election and MAN, has it been an.. interesting ride, to say the least. A lot of people have came, saw, and then dropped out sadly.
R.I.P, John Kasich's Campaign: 2015 - 2016
So since I've been following the election mother had the brilliant idea "Hey lets make your final exam about the election process!" and I responded with "Okay I suppose.", and then she says "AND Lets have you explain all of the three parties majorly involved in this years election, what they stand for, and who's running in them!".
So yeah. Lets get right to it!
I feel kinda dumb doing this, since I feel like just about all of you know about the election process, but this is how it works.
Or how I remember it working, to the best of my abilities.
It all starts with the election year claiming it has "begun", and it's around this time that the candidates start announcing that they're running. Most of the candidates have a big flashy announcement in front of a crowd, like Hillary Clinton and Donald Trumpet, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few have announced they're running over Twitter, or something like that.
Anyway, after they've announced that they're running, then it's all about going absolutely everywhere as much as they can and spreading their popularity. Popularity means everything in the race, including where you stand on election polls, which lead to a few other neat perks. For example, not only does that show that you're the most popular candidate of that party, but in "debates" (events held on the big news channels, like CNN and FOX, where the candidates gather to debate topics and answer questions) the person in the lead also gets to stand in the very middle at a debate.
Which is cool I suppose, but if you've ever watched a debate, specifically a FOX debate, you'll know that the person in the middle often has a spotlight on them, and that spotlight is often very bright and ends up making them look like a ghost.
I can recall a time when Ben Carson didn't even look black, but rather like he'd been painted a very light brown.
Along with the debates comes what are called "town halls". Does this mean they're held at a town hall?
I'm.. actually not sure, lemme go Bing that quick.
Because Bing is the superior.
Update, a town hall is not necessarily always held at a town hall.
The more you know.
Anyway, a town hall is where one (or more) candidate(s) gather to talk and answer questions directly from the crowd, but they're not necessarily debating. More like, engaging in friendly conversation.
So to say.
That goes on for a little while, then the primaries and caucus's start rolling in. Primaries and caucus's are where the general public goes to vote for their favorite candidate. At this point in the race, it's to become the Candidate for that respective party. The more primaries and caucus's you win, the more delegates and super delegates you gain.
Now, what most people want you to believe is that it's the general population that overall decides who the candidate will be.
HAH, NOPE!
It depends entirely on how many delegates you have, specifically super delegates. For example. Say you LOVE Ted Cruz, and he has almost as many delegates as Ben Carson. But Ben Carson has many more super delegates than Cruz, so Carson wins.
That's how that works, more or less. In my opinion, its a bunch of buttery-biscuit bologna.
Anyway, once a candidate has enough delegates, they win that part of the race and are announced as the Candidate for their respective party.
Once all of the parties have their Candidates, then the real fun begins and, well, the cycle repeats itself. It's back to running around the country for a few more months, gaining popularity and trying to persuade the general population they're better than their opponents.
That goes on for a little while and then the final election comes. During these several days every single state in the whole country votes either Republican, Democratic, or any other parties that might be voting choices (Independent, Green, Libertarian, etc). By the end of these few days all the votes are collected, tallied up, and whoever has the most votes is announced to be the next President of the United States of America!
Even though they still have to wait a few months before they can actually become President.
Well that pretty much sums up the election process, now onto the current candidates.
On the Democratic side, you've got Hillary Clinton and (for now) Bernie Sanders. Hillary Clinton is on her way to becoming the first female President, and she is very firm in her democratic beliefs. Being a Democrat, she believes we should handle things in a much more peaceful and passive-aggressive manor, in most cases. She's a proud and forceful member of the Black Lives Matter movement, approves of and believes in abortion, believes in Climate Change, has experience with the Middle-East and China, and believes war should be avoided if at all possible. Hillary Clinton is currently the leading candidate in the Democratic Party.
Coming behind Hillary, far behind, is Bernie Sanders. Bernie is a Democratic Socialist, and before you go off screaming "OMG HE'S HITLER COME AGAIN!!", there's a difference between a Socialist and a Democratic Socialist. Bernie Sanders believes that the "Big Banks" system is corrupt and broken, that Climate Change is our biggest issue at the moment, that everyone should get free college, and that everyone should earn near-equal pay regardless of what profession they may have. Of the two, Bernie is often considered to be the more extreme Democratic candidate. He's also earned the nickname "Honest Bernie", whereas Hillary has earned the nickname "Crooked Hillary".
That information does not show where I stand on either of them, that's just a little bit of trivial knowledge.
Meanwhile. over on the Republican side, the only one we have left is Donald Trump. There used to be many others, such as Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, John Kasich and Marco Rubio, but they all eventually dropped out. They couldn't beat the Trump.
Anyway, Donald Trump is kind of an oddity when it comes to his campaign. Whenever he has a rally, he doesn't ever really touch up on his political views for more than around 10 seconds. Truth be told, he seems to talk more about his hair and insulting other people than his views. But the crowds still love him. However, some of Trumps more prominent views include:
Ending government funding of Planned Parenthood;
Building a wall between America and Mexico to stop illegal immigration;
Going over to the Middle-East and annihilating terrorist groups such as ISIS;
Shutting down most/all big groups trying to stop Climate Change,
and "creating" more jobs for the American people.
Donald Trump is currently the leading, and only, candidate in the Republican Party.
Last but not least, barely trudging along, we have the Libertarian Party. In their party this year, they have Gary Johnson (as the candidate), and Bill Weld as his running mate. Libertarians are kinda an odd bunch, truth be told. They're like Independents, but in a way they're also kinda like Anarchists. Their political views are stated to be "very highly conservative", but their views on how the government should interact with society are "extremely liberal". What they mean by that is they believe the government shouldn't be very involved in what the general public does.
Apart from, you know. Basic ground laws. Like robbery, and rape, and murder.
Their views on war, taxes, wall street, and climate change (etc.) are extremely conservative.
Currently the only two members of the Libertarian party even getting any attention are Gary Johnson and Bill Weld. Gary Johnson may be the one running for president, with Bill Weld as his choice of running mate, but I personally believe Bill Weld would be a much better president than Johnson. Johnson always seems kind of nervous and seems to stutter a lot, whereas Weld always seems to be more relaxed and down-to-Earth.
Also he's got a decent sense of humor, which is always nice.
Well, there you have it! Three parties, one election, one country desperately in need of some change. Oh, and an entire process to go along with it. However, what exactly is considered "good" change is entirely up to debate and voting. I have my opinions on what's "best", but that doesn't matter. Most of you reading this are adults, so it's YOUR opinions that truly matter.
So go out there this election season, and participate.
Make a change.
BE the change that you want to see in this country, and this world.
That being said, I have finished. I hope you all enjoyed this brief summary of how the Presidential Race works, and what all three political parties are like. At least, from my point of view. I hope you all have a great day, and I will see you in the next post. Bye-bye!
I think this is going to be the last one I do for the next few months, so of course it has to be a big one.
At least, in my mothers opinion it does.
So I'm not sure if I've told you all, but for history class this year I've been following the election and MAN, has it been an.. interesting ride, to say the least. A lot of people have came, saw, and then dropped out sadly.
R.I.P, John Kasich's Campaign: 2015 - 2016
So since I've been following the election mother had the brilliant idea "Hey lets make your final exam about the election process!" and I responded with "Okay I suppose.", and then she says "AND Lets have you explain all of the three parties majorly involved in this years election, what they stand for, and who's running in them!".
So yeah. Lets get right to it!
I feel kinda dumb doing this, since I feel like just about all of you know about the election process, but this is how it works.
Or how I remember it working, to the best of my abilities.
It all starts with the election year claiming it has "begun", and it's around this time that the candidates start announcing that they're running. Most of the candidates have a big flashy announcement in front of a crowd, like Hillary Clinton and Donald Trumpet, but I wouldn't be surprised if a few have announced they're running over Twitter, or something like that.
Anyway, after they've announced that they're running, then it's all about going absolutely everywhere as much as they can and spreading their popularity. Popularity means everything in the race, including where you stand on election polls, which lead to a few other neat perks. For example, not only does that show that you're the most popular candidate of that party, but in "debates" (events held on the big news channels, like CNN and FOX, where the candidates gather to debate topics and answer questions) the person in the lead also gets to stand in the very middle at a debate.
Which is cool I suppose, but if you've ever watched a debate, specifically a FOX debate, you'll know that the person in the middle often has a spotlight on them, and that spotlight is often very bright and ends up making them look like a ghost.
I can recall a time when Ben Carson didn't even look black, but rather like he'd been painted a very light brown.
Along with the debates comes what are called "town halls". Does this mean they're held at a town hall?
I'm.. actually not sure, lemme go Bing that quick.
Because Bing is the superior.
Update, a town hall is not necessarily always held at a town hall.
The more you know.
Anyway, a town hall is where one (or more) candidate(s) gather to talk and answer questions directly from the crowd, but they're not necessarily debating. More like, engaging in friendly conversation.
So to say.
That goes on for a little while, then the primaries and caucus's start rolling in. Primaries and caucus's are where the general public goes to vote for their favorite candidate. At this point in the race, it's to become the Candidate for that respective party. The more primaries and caucus's you win, the more delegates and super delegates you gain.
Now, what most people want you to believe is that it's the general population that overall decides who the candidate will be.
HAH, NOPE!
It depends entirely on how many delegates you have, specifically super delegates. For example. Say you LOVE Ted Cruz, and he has almost as many delegates as Ben Carson. But Ben Carson has many more super delegates than Cruz, so Carson wins.
That's how that works, more or less. In my opinion, its a bunch of buttery-biscuit bologna.
Anyway, once a candidate has enough delegates, they win that part of the race and are announced as the Candidate for their respective party.
Once all of the parties have their Candidates, then the real fun begins and, well, the cycle repeats itself. It's back to running around the country for a few more months, gaining popularity and trying to persuade the general population they're better than their opponents.
That goes on for a little while and then the final election comes. During these several days every single state in the whole country votes either Republican, Democratic, or any other parties that might be voting choices (Independent, Green, Libertarian, etc). By the end of these few days all the votes are collected, tallied up, and whoever has the most votes is announced to be the next President of the United States of America!
Even though they still have to wait a few months before they can actually become President.
Well that pretty much sums up the election process, now onto the current candidates.
On the Democratic side, you've got Hillary Clinton and (for now) Bernie Sanders. Hillary Clinton is on her way to becoming the first female President, and she is very firm in her democratic beliefs. Being a Democrat, she believes we should handle things in a much more peaceful and passive-aggressive manor, in most cases. She's a proud and forceful member of the Black Lives Matter movement, approves of and believes in abortion, believes in Climate Change, has experience with the Middle-East and China, and believes war should be avoided if at all possible. Hillary Clinton is currently the leading candidate in the Democratic Party.
Coming behind Hillary, far behind, is Bernie Sanders. Bernie is a Democratic Socialist, and before you go off screaming "OMG HE'S HITLER COME AGAIN!!", there's a difference between a Socialist and a Democratic Socialist. Bernie Sanders believes that the "Big Banks" system is corrupt and broken, that Climate Change is our biggest issue at the moment, that everyone should get free college, and that everyone should earn near-equal pay regardless of what profession they may have. Of the two, Bernie is often considered to be the more extreme Democratic candidate. He's also earned the nickname "Honest Bernie", whereas Hillary has earned the nickname "Crooked Hillary".
That information does not show where I stand on either of them, that's just a little bit of trivial knowledge.
Meanwhile. over on the Republican side, the only one we have left is Donald Trump. There used to be many others, such as Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, John Kasich and Marco Rubio, but they all eventually dropped out. They couldn't beat the Trump.
Anyway, Donald Trump is kind of an oddity when it comes to his campaign. Whenever he has a rally, he doesn't ever really touch up on his political views for more than around 10 seconds. Truth be told, he seems to talk more about his hair and insulting other people than his views. But the crowds still love him. However, some of Trumps more prominent views include:
Ending government funding of Planned Parenthood;
Building a wall between America and Mexico to stop illegal immigration;
Going over to the Middle-East and annihilating terrorist groups such as ISIS;
Shutting down most/all big groups trying to stop Climate Change,
and "creating" more jobs for the American people.
Donald Trump is currently the leading, and only, candidate in the Republican Party.
Last but not least, barely trudging along, we have the Libertarian Party. In their party this year, they have Gary Johnson (as the candidate), and Bill Weld as his running mate. Libertarians are kinda an odd bunch, truth be told. They're like Independents, but in a way they're also kinda like Anarchists. Their political views are stated to be "very highly conservative", but their views on how the government should interact with society are "extremely liberal". What they mean by that is they believe the government shouldn't be very involved in what the general public does.
Apart from, you know. Basic ground laws. Like robbery, and rape, and murder.
Their views on war, taxes, wall street, and climate change (etc.) are extremely conservative.
Currently the only two members of the Libertarian party even getting any attention are Gary Johnson and Bill Weld. Gary Johnson may be the one running for president, with Bill Weld as his choice of running mate, but I personally believe Bill Weld would be a much better president than Johnson. Johnson always seems kind of nervous and seems to stutter a lot, whereas Weld always seems to be more relaxed and down-to-Earth.
Also he's got a decent sense of humor, which is always nice.
Well, there you have it! Three parties, one election, one country desperately in need of some change. Oh, and an entire process to go along with it. However, what exactly is considered "good" change is entirely up to debate and voting. I have my opinions on what's "best", but that doesn't matter. Most of you reading this are adults, so it's YOUR opinions that truly matter.
So go out there this election season, and participate.
Make a change.
BE the change that you want to see in this country, and this world.
That being said, I have finished. I hope you all enjoyed this brief summary of how the Presidential Race works, and what all three political parties are like. At least, from my point of view. I hope you all have a great day, and I will see you in the next post. Bye-bye!
