Election Exploration - Entry 5

Sadly this is the final time I will say hello as this is my last blog post. This post will be based on the last type of linkage institution - elections. Elections are the most powerful link between people and their government where the peoples collective decisions controls which candidate's ideals will be prioritized for our country. Elections heavily influence an individual's political beliefs by giving Americans a reason to have a national debate on important controversial issues such as immigration, abortion, the death penalty, and military intervention. Our recent election has demonstrated that Americans now a days are very divided in their political ideologies based on these controversial topics we debate about consistently. Like I have mention in my recent blog post, most of this debate comes from our media, which consist and will always consist of commentators and influencers presenting information with some level of bias in order to promote their companies or individual motives. These sources of information and entertainment have continued to preserve the underlying resentment of both political positions for one another. For individuals that do not have a stance on controversial issues, they might base their ideals on the the public majority. Our media continues to inform its viewers on not just the individual candidate but the collective stance on issues they stand for as well as mock them for the things they have said or done depending on their agenda. I will be showing examples of thing based on the 2016 Democratic Presidential Primary Election between the candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. 

The first Democratic nominee was Hillary Clinton. Clinton strove to be the first female president of the United States of America in order to test the boundaries of women's rights in America. Not only did she advocate for women, but things such as rights for people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ rights, climate change, better education, and minority rights. In order to deepen my understanding of her campaign, I reviewed a campaign advertisement made for her campaign. During the first half of this ad, Clinton explains her mothers inflectional role in how she viewed the world and what she wanted to achieve in her life. For example, she begins by explaining her mothers Dorothy's childhood. Her mother was abandoned by her parents as a girl and survived on her own at 14 by a family that took her in to work as a housemaid. This family encouraged her to read and go to school where she found purpose. Clinton claims that the lesson her mother passed on to her was that "no one gets through life alone." This lesson inspired her to fight for people, such as her mother, who are in desperate need for liberation. She describes the things shes participated in before the election that corroborates with this mentality such as : the Children's Defense Fund, the investigation of the plight of 12 to 13 year old boys imprisoned alongside grown men with serious charges, the exposure of the racism of segregated academies in Alabama, the management of a legal aid clinic providing representation of poor families and prison inmates, Bill Clinton's presidency as the first lady, 8 years in the senate, and Secretary of State during President Obama's presidency. The ad ends with the ideals she aspires to preserve and strengthen in our country regarding basic human rights.

The second nominee that competed against Hillary Clinton was Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders main focus in his campaign was strengthening the middle class, diminishing the control of the upper class, and giving equal opportunists for those who worked hard. Sander's emphasis in reversing economic inequality resides in the campaign video I reviewed to get a better understanding of his views. At the start of this advertisement, Sander's describes how his childhood in poverty shaped his view on the world and motivated him to change this standard of living in his adulthood. He also added that he grew up with hard working people who valued education such as his father, which gave him incentive to reinforce a better take on our education system, which he states, will in turn, strengthen the economy with a well-educated workforce. One of the most influential part of this video is when he explains his presents in the Civil Rights movement, including his participation in a sit-in demonstration and when he listened to Martin Luther King's speech when he felt like he was a part of history. Another thing Sander mentioned in his ad is the need for a cheaper health care system. He states that it is unexceptionable for American having to find alternatives for nursing themselves back to due to current unfavorable health care. One of Sander's last points is the need for more effective climate change systems in order to keep our country and planet habitable for future generations which stems from his empathy for his grandchildren's futures.