When fear overcomes logic, we fail.

When fake media prevails over reality, we fail.

When your opinion is stronger than the facts, we fail.

When Facebook is your political presence, we fail.

When our American brothers and sisters live in fear, we fail.

When climate change is denied, we fail.

When you ridicule special needs, we fail.

When you are too ashamed to talk about your vote, we fail.

When you want to ban Muslims, we fail.

When you “grab her by the pussy”, we fail.

When you want to build that wall, we fail.

When you bully her, we fail.

When you glorify a dictator, we fail.

When you call a Mexican a rapist, we fail.

When you rank women with a mere number, we fail.

When you call her a “fat pig”, we fail.

When the KKK rallies your success, we fail.

When the President-elect has a degree in reality TV, we fail.

When you hate, we fail.

The 2016 Presidential Race has shown its fair share of characters. Lurking behind the outrageous statements of the GOP stood a lone Republican adhering to old school standards.

Out of all the presidential candidates Trump put to rest, he is the most likely to put me to sleep. Not regular sleep, like “head slams against the table from free falling” sleep. It looks like just 2% of millennial women would even have dinner with Kasich. That means people would rather go on a random Tinder date with a possible murderer than have dinner with a prospective President.

Are we so conditioned to respond to crazy that we can’t just listen to a regular guy?

Overwhelmingly, the answer is yes. We all gravitate towards interesting, out of bounds, mouth dropping sound bites. And Kasich is just way too middle of the line to compete with this radical election.

Really, he’s not that interesting. Here is just enough information to survive an intellectual conversation on the presidential debate before gawking over the latest absurd statement Trump has released:

Fiscal Conservative. This is perhaps Kasich’s strongest presented quality and marketed qualification for President, and perhaps what makes him so uninteresting. Kasich has spent his time campaigning for a balanced budget, slim government spending, and state controlled funds. In his reign as Governor, he boasts cutting taxes and reversing a prospected $8 billion budget shortcoming.

Truly, he goes so far as to proposing an amendment to the Constitution to require a balanced budget. His overemphasis on budget could cause major harm to federal institutions and harsh government cut backs.

During his tenure as Governor, Ohio did have a major comeback. After being hit by the recession and losing 350,000 jobs – looks like they gained about 400,000 jobs and unemployment is waning off. He did also reduce taxes majorly, but could have this all been due to his fiscal stance and staunch state level approach?

After sifting through a lot of research (so you don’t have to) – it looks like Obamacare bailed out Ohio. So there’s that.

Reproductive Rights. Maybe he hates women? If I had to guess based off his track record as Senator, I’d say yes. Kasich has proven time and time again that he is firmly against women’s rights.

During his time as Ohio Governor, he slashed 16 total clinics down to 8. He worked tirelessly to make abortions increasingly difficult to get, Bible slamming and all.

Not only did he shut down half the clinics in his state, but he implemented a law that made it ILLEGAL for rape center counselors to let rape victims know that abortion is a viable choice. To me, that is the line. That is undeniably wrong.

An emphasis of “common sense” – just his favorite saying sprinkled all over his site. He called himself the “grown up” of the GOP.

He did give me hope because he didn’t deny climate change, was open to immigration reform, and didn’t bash Common Core. But his outright agenda against women is too much for me to actually regret his failure.

1. Anti-establishment

The reason both men are running is because America is tired of establishment based politics. Both candidates speak in easy to understand vernacular and focus on relatable issues that people understand. Politics can become confusing when speaking to laws, lobbyists, special interest groups, and corporate goals. Most candidates have traditionally had to speak on behalf of a plethora of donors and negotiations – but these two threw it all to the wind.

Neither man has been paraded by their respective party or endorsed by major White House politicians. Let’s face it, neither candidate plays by the rules and people love it.

Bernie focuses on issues like free education and healthcare – tapping into our daily needs and appealing to the masses. Sanders speaks unlike most politicians, effortlessly acquiring previously uninterested citizens to rally around him.

Trump does the same – but in an angry old drunk man kind of way. Kicking ISIS a**. Condemning women on their period. It was funny for a while, but now it’s getting really, REALLY scary…

2. No Super PACs

People want to know who is behind their candidate. When unimaginable funds are poured into politicians bank accounts, there is a responsibility of the politician to follow through with their corporate and/or individual goals. The idea is that when you don’t have corporations behind you who are trying to rewrite the law, you can accomplish goals that benefit the citizenry.

Bernie Sanders has set the record of collecting the most individual contributions to a campaign – last quoted as 1 million individual donations amounting to $2.5 million.

And Trump straight out funded himself.

3. Extreme Views

Both men are considered extreme to their relative parties. Sanders endorses a form of democratic socialism consistent with Denmark, calling for free universal healthcare, a higher minimum wage, and free college – walking the lines of the Democratic party set in place by like the likes of Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama.

Trump is not on the lines of the Republican party in terms of extremity,  but also in terms of mental sanity. Trump has famously called for a giant wall separating us from Mexico, a Muslim immigration ban, and perhaps dating his own daughter.

4. Native New Yorkers

Brooklyn and Manhattan. Guess who goes where?

5. The Emotional Appeal 

Perhaps this is the most important and pertinent similarity between the two. Instead of campaigning strategies and their plans for lasting policies, both men participate in emotion pulling.

The extremity of these candidates and their popularity should serve as a wake-up call for politicians and citizens. The fact that the public is so accustomed to dishonest politicians procured this interest in these extremities, and most concerning, in Trump. Politicians must focus on honesty, while citizens should actually do their research rather than rallying around rawness.

But the problem lies here: YOUNG PEOPLE DO NOT VOTE. Whether we are too busy reading about Kanye West’s twitter feuds or catching up on a new season of New Girl on Netflix, we do not take the time to vote.

Tuft University’s Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement recently reported that 2014 marks the lowest level of youth voting yet. Around 20% of 18 to 29-year-olds voted last fall, as opposed to an average of 26% of the same age bracket voting in other midterm elections over the past 40 years.

Basically, 1 out of 5 of us vote. As happy as we are to read about him on Elite Daily or watch all the campaign oriented Snapchats – be certain this is not enough. I urge you all to TAKE ACTION AND VOTE. Not only for Bernie, but for whoever sparks your inner activist. Get out and learn your city council members, congress members, governors, – basically who ever has political power to speak for you in government.

As a generation, we are drooling over Kim Kardashian – but I would bet my savings account over half of us have no idea who our Congressmen are. This is why I can’t be happy about Bernie. Not yet, not until I see the numbers.

Like our high school English teachers told us – your heart is there, but you need to work to become exceptional. And with action, we can become the generation that creates a political revolution. We can save the planet, innovate, and end poverty. But we have to put down Instagram in order to align our beliefs and actions. We can.

Register to vote here.

When I think of a presidential candidate being a woman, I am beaming. Thinking of a woman holding a role that has been held by a man since its creation is truly revolutionary. However, when that woman is actively working to erase women’s rights, I would rather her not succeed. That “her” is GOP candidate Carly Fiorina.

The Fight Against Women’s Reproductive Rights

Fiorina has famously bashed Planned Parenthood on multiple accounts. She even went so far as to dare Hillary Clinton and Barrack Obama to watch a fetus getting cut up on a table, claiming she saw insider video of “a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking, while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain.” This video that does not exist, according to Vox, and is rather a  claim that has deliberately been created to smear Planned Parenthood.

Fiorina repeatedly paints Planned Parenthood as an outlet for inhumane abortions that are federally funded. She is ignorant to the fact that abortions account for 3% of all Planned Parenthood services, leaving 97% of services to preventative care, STD treatment, birth control, family planning, and cancer screenings.  She is also ignorant to the fact that it is actually illegal to federally fund most abortions (unless abortion by rape, incest, or harmful to mother) under the Hyde Amendment. 

Her degree of insensitivity to the matter baffles me, as she recently battled breast cancer herself. She understands the pain and intricacies of cancer, but rallies against its preventative care. Instead of using her experience to benefit women’s cancers, she is actively working against it.

Her Definition of Feminism as a Leftist Policy

Feminism is NOT a Liberal quality and should never be portrayed as so.  Feminism is a very simple concept and literally asks for equal treatment of men and women. Feminism is for everyone who believes in equality and fairness for females, and basically should be supported by every woman on the planet. Instead of recognizing the simplicity of feminism, Carly has a rather convoluted definition of feminism, writing in her essay called “Redefining Feminism,” “feminism has devolved into a left-leaning political ideology where women are pitted against men and used as a political weapon to win elections.” This definition is so far from the truth of feminism, and places the attention on a different issue. Let’s talk about equality Fiorina, not political warfare.

The Fight Against Equal Pay

Fiorina recounts her transition from secretary to CEO often – but fails to understand and sympathize with working women. As she rose the ranks, she cited enduring sexism and the difficulties faced as a woman in a male-dominated world of executives. Despite this, Carly does not support equal pay.

Instead of recognizing that women make about 80% of what men make and providing a solution to bridge the gap, Carly puts attention seniority and its benefits. Fiorina writes, “the single greatest impediment to equal pay for equal work is the seniority system.” Seniority has nothing to do with equal pay. It does not explain why men and women can do the same job, but women make 80 cents on the dollar. Again, this is Fiorina placing attention where it shouldn’t be, avoiding a solution.

All in all, I do commend her for holding her place as a woman in the GOP. In her own way, she is a woman in a man’s world, and even if I don’t agree with her, she can add to Feminism – even if she doesn’t want to. While her words are unappreciated, her presence is.

Despite his undeniable contributions to the world of medicine, I believe he must focus on his strengths. And when it comes to politics, Ben should honor his Hippocratic Oath to “First, Do No Harm.”

Whenever I hear Ben’s small voice on TV and his ill-fitting sweater vest, I can’t help but be reminded of another walking gaffe. Their love for sweater weather looks eerily remind me of one another. And, it doesn’t hurt that their initials are the same either – yes, there is another famous BC – Bill Crosby.

The more I researched about these two, the more their personalities oddly fell in line with each other.

And who can’t deny the inherent creep factor in both?

Women. Carson is largely and famously toxic in his views of women’s reproductive rights. The surgeon compared women who use abortion to the act of slavery, stating that women are acting like slave owners in their decisions to choose abortions and making babies the enemy. Carson is so intense that he opposes the right to abort even in cases of incest or rape. And Cosby has been famously accused on multiple accounts for rape and sexual abuse, and about 57 total women have come out as victims of the abuse. Cosby’s career has plummeted since his gross mistreatment of women has been unveiled. 

Education. However, this is not entirely a criticism. Both men have a soft spot for education and its importance in American politics. Carson and his wife Candy have dedicated themselves to education, establishing the Carson Scholars Fund in 1995, dispersing over $6.2 million to students across America – and have established 100 Carson Reading Rooms to encourage reading. Cosby successfully ran the Hello Friend/Ennis William Cosby Foundation, encouraging learning in children with disabilities, as well as famously donating to many black colleges – most notably $20 million to Spelman College in 1988. Both men have made enormous strides to emphasize the importance of literacy and proper education. 

Their views on the Black community. Cosby’s famous speech at the 50th-anniversary commemoration of the Brown vs Topeka Board of Education highlighted the issues of Black America and the role of faulty parenting. He highly criticized the choice of language, violence, and lack of literacy rampant in the black community. Cosby urged the community to reflect on themselves and uplift, claiming many young people are disgracing the activists of the Civil Rights movement. Carson holds a similar view, however not as vocal. Carson’s narrative in campaigning plays the role of angry young black man saved by the way of Jesus, and that a library card was what saved him from the streets.

While we must commemorate both men on their contributions to America, I can’t say either is fit for political office.

Jeb needs to fire his campaign crew immediately. Not only did the strategy leak, but the campaign’s inconceivable flaws also leaked.

The statistics used to justify Bush’s strategy are not statistics. The survey methods are not cohesive with correct statistical analysis. Surveys are created to unveil voter’s opinions, but if you create surveys full of bias, you are not partaking in honest statistics. For further clarification on the process of proper surveying and statistical data, read up on it here – courtesy of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.

The question stems lead to bias. To delve into one particularly troubling slide, let’s look at:

Point of View Closest to Your Own About Jeb Bush

The answer choices:

1. Unsure / Refused

2. Will strengthen our military because he’s been endorsed by 13 Medal of Honor recipients

3. Unfortunately relies upon the same core military and foreign policy advisors that his father and brother used

The answer choices are LOADED with information that can skew a surveyor’s opinion. To present the option “will strengthen our military because he’s been endorsed by 13 Medal of Honor recipients” cannot be part of an unbiased, correctly conducted survey. Look how much information is given about Jeb in this option, revealing that he is endorsed by 13 Medal of Honor recipients – this can immediately change the surveyor’s opinion and create a favorable response that is a knee jerk reaction to the information of his endoresments given rather than reveal a long-standing and truthful opinion. The option “unfortunately relies upon the same core military strategy…that his father and brother used” is also completely biased – this can skew a surveyor to the other direction, reminding them of 9/11 and again immediately creating a knee-jerk reaction to the information given.  The information used in the power point to endorse and strategize for Jeb is thus unreliable. 

The rest of the slides are also guilty of creating the bias error – another question has two answer choices: “impressive” and “very impressive.” What ever happened to disagreement?

Further, there is A LOT of money being spent on Bush. From the presentation, (assuming the numbers are valid), Bush is planning to spend 100% of what Marco Rubio will spend on “Advance Placed Media” and 615% of what Ben Carson will spend on this form of media, as Bush plans to spend over $33 mil on this aspect of his campaign. According to his slide “Cash Matters”, Bush has raised $24.8 million, double of Rubio’s meek $14.6 million.

On a creepy note, one slide mentioned a scary Internet tracking strategy:

“We’ve built a dynamic and personalized website, that allows us to customize the not only what we ask for but the amount you see on the forms on our site, customized to you as a donor and your ability to give.”

The violation of privacy is troubling, as I doubt most supporters would want to reveal how much they would like to donate, and what options are presented. 

Beyond the skewed statistics, cyber monitoring, and truckloads of cash being spent – another worrisome factor of the strategy is the role of Marco Rubio. The Bush team relies on Jeb’s Hispanic wife to differentiate him from the traditional Republican party and gain the Conservative Hispanic vote that GOP popular candidate Trump struggles to appeal to. Rubio poses a threat as he IS Hispanic, and can quickly rob Bush of his assumed niche. The strategy team present numbers that bash Rubio for his lack of experience and classify his current success as fleeting, because “Voters have A.D.D.” They further relay him as the GOP’s Obama equivalent, young and charming, more like a Bachelor runner-up than a presidential candidate.

And lastly, all the information attests to Trump’s undeserving popularity. Which is more cringe-worthy than any aforementioned flaw of the strategy.

To determine for yourself, here is a link to the complete PowerPoint outlining the strategy.

When you peel away his need to fulfill his family’s goals – he is a torn man. His most interesting aspects are not his political views, but rather his deeper immediate family issues.

Jeb met Columba on a high school trip to Leon, Mexico. Jeb was Mr. America, shining in Bush glory, pockets full of cash and blood blue, when came to experience a different side of life. But at 17, heart rules the mind, and he fell in love with young Columba. Full of culture and raised on the outskirts of a village, Columba decided to leave her country life behind to marry Jeb. Their relationship lasted 3 years before Jeb gave into his heart.

In a way, Columba represents Mexico and Jeb represents America: Their relationship is a part of a bigger story.

A soul sucking relationship: two countries standing next to each other. Equal at first, brimming with young hope, they decided to share a life – and initially the close proximity was wonderful for the lovers. But over the years, as one gained an ego complexity and his greed itched,  he decided to take away from the other. And the other stood hopeful, repeating the mantra that love can be rocky, but she never wavered in her support. As time went on, and as one partner gave all she could, she watched the other wilt her of her natural beauty. But she had endured too much for too long. Now that she gave all she had, she couldn’t go back to her life before. There is nothing there. Too prideful to have ever assimilated, she now stands in regret of her young and naive ways, stuttering in her overgrown accent and scouring the city for glimmers of home. 

Columba expected the American dream she might have heard about in Mexico – fables passed on of a distant man who successfully immigrated and lived quietly in the vastness of America – working hard, with his head down. Her expectations fell short. Columba is a reserved woman, repeatedly telling media outlets that she never asked for fame. Most accurately, she told the Miami Herald in 1992 during her father-in-law’s campaign, “I want to go back to my kitchen, to do the homework with my kids, and—why not—to watch television.”

And Columba fought politics and assimilation as hard as she could. She persuaded Jeb out of Texas, claiming to have felt discrimination’s wrath, and moved to Florida early on in their marriage. There Jeb become Governor, and the position was set in Tallahassee. She tried to live in Flordia’s captial, but craved her own culture. She split her time between Miami and Tallahassee for his term as Governor. But presidency is a beast she cannot escape…

To exemplify his inner struggle further, we can look to his view on immigration.

Immigration

From a party that rallies around the opinion that America is meant to be dominated by the Caucasian race, Jeb stands on the opposite side of the spectrum.

Last year, the Bush family celebrated the 25th anniversary of the George H.W. Bush library and museum. During Jeb’s speech he exposed a soft spot for immigration, calling it “an act of love.” He took initiative on the issue, delving in and exposing the humanity behind immigration – and peeling away the obscurity of a policy. “The way I look at this is someone who comes to our country because they couldn’t come legally, they come to our country because their families — the dad who loved their children — was worried that their children didn’t have food on the table.” 

Can Jeb balance harsh Conservative views with his inner struggle? It’s a battle as old as time, heart versus mind – and only time will tell where Jeb will end up.

I struggled with explaining to my friends and family what Croatia is, where it is, and why I wanted to go. After pointing it out on a map, my mother nodded her head and said, “Ah, Yugoslavia!”  – which was ironically fitting description of Croatia. I then discussed the trip with a Bulgarian coworker, who assured me Croatia is a bad decision and stated in a thick Russian style accent, “It’s not even in EU, its the poor man’s vacation!”

Regardless of all the random comments we got about Croatia, Instagram pictures had us in love with Croatia. Every Croatia wanderlust hashtag was loaded with blue oceans, caves, and stunning waterfalls.

The country was unlike America and Europe. English was sparsely spoke, and the locals seemed to be in a post war depression. Their humor was dark, and with the language barrier – the moments conversing were more awkward than not. But, Croatians were kind and generous to us. On a boat tour, our guide lent us money for food when we miscalculated how much to bring because of the conversion factor. On a night out, waiters escorted us to the club and disguised us as Croatians to avoid paying entry fees reserved for unassuming tourists.

Croatians are a recovering people – independent newly in 1991. It’s no wonder people are hesitant to understand their county and are unfamiliar with the country. During my trip, I learned they are recovering from years of oppression, from the Romans, from the Hungarians, and most recently and violently, Yugoslavia. The roads leading to the beaches are lined with minefields, and buildings are still bare with the scars of the war. The history is behind every soldier turned bartender’s smile – that we are new, we are here, and we are finally free.

Visit Croatia to experience budding happiness, embarking global presence, and most importantly, untainted natural beauty. As my tour guide stated, “Taste the wine, you could see it in an American store in a couple years.”