US Elections: A Vote Of No Confidence

In just under three weeks, citizens from the United States of America will go to the ballot boxes to elect their next president.
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In just under three weeks, citizens from the United States of America will go to the ballot boxes to elect their next president.

I can't remember an issue that has dominated our news feeds more than 'Donald vs Hillary'. Almost every article about these two individuals in the last 18 months has been slanted either left or right - depending on the publication it appeared in and their preferred president.

To be fair, most of what you will have read would have been slanted left, as the lion's share of mainstream media leans that way. So today I'm going to try offer some unbiased analysis on the two candidates that can realistically be elected on November the 8th.

Hillary Clinton - She is first woman to top a major party's presidential ticket. A former lawyer, first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of State, Clinton has her fair share of leadership experience.

Hillary's CV on paper is very impressive, but does that make her a good candidate for the top job?

To answer that, her character and track record require some examination.

There's a plethora of scathing incidents that have already been written about Clinton in this election campaign. For example, there is the accessing of classified emails on her home server (and allegedly deleting over thirty thousand after receiving a Congressional subpoena), to her role in the Benghazi attack, to the several women who have come forward and claimed they were attacked by Hillary in relation to sexual advances that were made by her husband, and most recently her involvement in tarnishing the Democratic electoral process that never allowed Bernie Sanders a realistic chance of winning the leadership.

If you're reading this article and have the slightest interest in politics, then there is no doubt you've already heard about all of these incidents in some capacity.

Perhaps of greatest concern is the material in Christopher Andersen's book titled 'American Evita'. The 1995 New York Times best-selling book focusses on the Clinton family, particularly Hillary's role in many of the accolades her husband received. On page 50, Anderson describes an anti-Semitic incident in 1973 where Hillary Clinton refused to enter a home that had a Menorah symbol on the front door.

Granted these events took place a long time ago - and she may have changed her views since then - but for a candidate who claims to have the interests of all minority groups, this material is troubling.

I obviously don't know Hillary personally and you have to take all of the above with a grain of salt, but none of this information can possibly leave a voter confident that the United Stated of America will be in good hands with her leadership. In truth it's quite a scary proposition.

I do believe that it's time for a woman to lead, I just wish there was a better option than the one campaigning for the position right now.

Now to her opponent.

Donald Trump - He is an American businessman, property developer and reality television show host.

Donald is a polarising character and has been in the public eye in one way or another for most of his life. His unique selling point in this election is that he offers something different because he isn't a typical politician and will not feed the public the 'politically correct' sound bites they've heard for so many years.

Trump claims to have a vision, but when questioned on it he offers very little detail about how he plans to tackle the challenges that lie ahead. His narcissistic demeanour and lack of humility have been transparent throughout this campaign.

Against all odds - and in what many people thought was a joke a year ago, he has become the leader of the Republican Party by promising to make America "great again" and "safe again".

But can voters really trust this man to run the world's greatest super power?

We'd be here forever if we had to go through the public scandals Trump has been involved in throughout his life. Every man, woman and their dog has come forward in the last few weeks to share their story about how Donald has abused and mistreated them.

Are all of these claims valid? I'm not sure, but generally when there is enough smoke it usually indicates fire and no one in their right mind can truly be confident in a decision to elect this man as the next US President.

So that's the tale of the tape - but where does it leave voters?

As far as I'm concerned American citizens find themselves in a lose-lose scenario. I've been scratching my head for months now wondering how either of these two can possibly be the best options available.

What concerns me is that people seem so focussed on 'the contest' (because it's human nature to pick a side and cheer them on) that they're losing sight of the fact that neither of these candidates deserve our cheerleading.

This isn't like the Super Bowl where you root for the team you hate the least, and get back to daily life when the game is over. This is a choice that will make one of these two people the leader of the free world... and it's incredibly scary.

The election process in America - with its exorbitant spending and bias for both Democrat and Republican candidates - is shameful and has robbed many great candidates a realistic chance of having their name on the upcoming ballot.

In my view, America needs electoral reform immediately. A system that allows true visionaries an opportunity to implement real change and make the free world a better place - is the only way forward.

Until that happens, any vote can be nothing more than a vote of no confidence.