Editorial: Hillary Clinton for President

Editorial:  Hillary Clinton for President

Editor’s Note:   The Patriot Press would like to preface this endorsement by saying that any rebuttals and challenges to our opinions are welcome. This editorial simply represents the collective opinion of the editors of The Patriot Press.

After one of the wildest election cycles in decades, the time has finally come for the final two candidates to fight for the White House, and Americans must make their final decisions on who to support in just five short months.  Here at The Patriot Press, the editors have unanimously chosen to support the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton. We feel that Clinton is much more qualified for the job, and we cannot support a candidate as bombastic and unpredictable as Donald Trump.

For decades, Clinton has had a presence in government on both the state and federal levels. She has been the first lady of both Arkansas and the United States, a New York Senator, Secretary of State, and has experience running two presidential campaigns. Her extensive political experience will allow her to easily navigate the political games and battles in Washington, which have torn previous inexperienced presidents apart. She understands and realizes the powers and responsibilities of the presidency, reflecting in her campaign promises, which haven’t been nearly as ambitious as Trump’s or Sanders’. Besides her extensive qualifications, we generally agree with her liberal policies, as opposed to Trump’s relatively conservative/populist views.

While we support Clinton, like many Americans, we don’t think she is the perfect candidate by any means. Her email scandal is a valid cause for concern; If it is not a legal issue, it is certainly an extreme lapse in judgement. Clinton has accepted donations from the fossil fuel industry, and her campaign so far seems to suggest that much of the status quo will continue. She has taken no extremely liberal stances that set her apart from any other typical Democrat. With that said, we believe that her experience and proven track record outweighs the shadow of the controversies, some real and some imagined, that swirl around her,

Besides Trump’s obvious personality shortcomings, his policies are unrealistic and he is absolutely not prepared for the job. Throughout hundreds of speeches and rallies, Trump has revealed very little about the specifics of his policies. He says that he will “replace Obamacare with something so much better,” “bomb the hell out of ISIS,” and that we need “unpredictability” in terms of our nuclear weapons usage. He never actually explains how he will accomplish any of his policy goals; he just vaguely addresses issues in ways that appeal to his audience. In fact, Trump’s audience greatly determines how he feels on certain issues, given that his opinion on abortion changed five times in three days in order to pander to different audiences. The only specific policy that he has stuck to is that “We will build a wall, and Mexico will pay for it”. Not only would the wall not stop all ground immigration and would be a waste of taxpayer money, but nearly half of all illegal immigrants come here on planes via work visas and overstay their welcome.

Trump’s terrible personality and policy choices are one thing, but to us, what makes him such a weak candidate is his lack of political experience. In normal election cycles, candidates are normally considered inexperienced if they have not worked in Washington in some way. Jimmy Carter comes to mind as an inexperienced President, but even he served in the military, the Georgia legislature, and as Georgia’s governor. Trump has had no political experience, literally none at all. There’s no denying that he is a great businessman, but that does not translate to knowing how to govern. Business leaders do not have to lead a country of 320 million people. We don’t buy the “I’ll surround myself with great people” schtick, and this lack of experience is ultimately why we support Clinton over Trump.

Less than two months from now, we will finally know who the next President of the United States will be. Americans have seen what both candidates have to offer, and after this crazy election cycle, The Patriot Press is really hoping to have a “President Clinton” instead of “President Trump”