A&E Editor
@Brandon_writing
We pride ourselves in living in a nation that is free. We enjoy the fact that we are able to vote.
As the 2016 presidential campaigns start to heat up, Donald Trump seems to be leading the GOP candidates. One question comes to mind:
Has Donald Trump proven that the current electoral process our nation has trusted in is now failing?
For a long time, I have believed that any citizen can run and become president was an amazing thing.
I am a senior here at Cameron University studying political science. As I get older and see politics at work, I believe that there should be some job requirement beyond age and birthplace for the highest office in the land.
Trump has spent the summer spouting hate for immigrants. He has gone so far to call illegal Mexican immigrants “rapists.”
“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending the best,” Trump said. “They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems.
“They’re bringing drugs; they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists and some, I assume, are good people, but I speak to border guards, and they’re telling us what we’re getting.”
In an interview with Chuck Todd of Meet the Press, Trump said that all illegal immigrants needed to leave – even those who have children born in the United States.
“We’re going to keep the families together,” Trump said. “We have to keep the families together, but they have to go.”
Generations of immigrants have come to the United States in order to accomplish the American dream.
Not if Trump has anything to say about it.
He plans to close the southern borders by building a huge wall.
“I would build a great wall,” Trump said, “and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively, I will build a great, great wall on our southern border. And I will have Mexico pay for that wall.”
What is the American dream? Writer and historian James Truslow Adams said it is a land in which life is better and richer for everyone.
“With opportunity for each according to ability or achievement, …” Adams said, “regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”
Dr. Wendy Whitman Cobb, Associate Professor for political science, has said government is not broken. She blames the issue on an uneducated electorate.
So is our system of government broken? I would have to say no, it is not broken. But like all things there are definitely some things that we can do differently.
Whenever we as people analyze our government, we need to take a long look at the electorate and get them not only informed but also involved.
The Center for the Study of the American Electorate says that only 57.5 percent of voters voted in the 2012 general elections – just over half of all eligible citizens.
With Trump leading the polls, maybe the tides would change if only we required all eligible citizens to vote.
You might just be surprised at how the people voice their opinions.