The concept of an election seems simple enough; you cast your ballot, the candidate with the most votes wins the election. However things are a bit more complicated when it comes to the United States Presidential election. What exactly is the Electoral college? And how is it possible candidates can win the popular vote and still lose the election? In 2016 Hilary Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes but still lost the election to Donald Trump. How does this work and why do we use this system?

The Electoral college is made up of 538 delegates. These delegates, about a month after Americans vote, cast the votes that decide the president. These delegates are appointed by state parties. Whichever candidate wins the popular vote in your state, gets your state’s electoral votes. In order to win a candidate must get to 270 electoral votes. In a sense when you cast your ballot in your state you’re not voting for your candidate directly but you are voting for your preferred candidates electors. In the event there is a tie the decision goes to the newly seated House of Representatives. 

Hillary Clinton was not the first candidate to win the popular vote and lose the electoral vote. The same thing happened to Al Gore in 2000. So why do we use this system? The electoral college was born in 1787. The concern our founders had was urban areas would dominate election decisions over less populated rural areas. This system was meant to help balance that out. The number of electors a state has is tied to its population. If this system still works for modern day America is up for interpretation. 

So now that you know how your vote is counted, go enjoy some election night anxiety, maybe with an adult beverage. 

TRUMP

BIDEN

There you have it, you’ve heard the word taxes a lot, now you have the candidates plans. Make sure you make the choice that is best for yourself this Tuesday!

ANTIFA- a political protest movement comprising autonomous groups affiliated by their militant opposition to fascism and other forms of extreme right-wing ideology.

BUT real quick.. Do you know what Fascism is?

Fascism- is a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism characterized by dictatorial power, forcible suppression of opposition and strong regimentation of society and of the economy which came to prominence in early 20th-century Europe.

*Think Nazi Germany (Hitler)* & *Mussolini and Italy*

Soo, if you’re ANTIFA then you’re opposed to Fascism “Most antifa come from the anarchist movement or from the far left”(https://www.adl.org/antifa) These people are going about their business through violent or nonviolent protest and not policy change.

Socialism- a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Communism- 1) a system in which goods are owned in common and are available to all as needed 2) a theory advocating elimination of private property

Affordable Care Act (ACA)- The comprehensive health care reform law enacted in March 2010 (sometimes known as ACA, PPACA, or “Obamacare”).

The law has 3 primary goals:

• Make affordable health insurance available to more people. The law provides consumers with subsidies (“premium tax credits”) that lower costs for households with incomes between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level.
• Expand the Medicaid program to cover all adults with income below 138% of the federal poverty level. (Not all states have expanded their Medicaid programs.)
• Support innovative medical care delivery methods designed to lower the costs of health care generally.

Proud Boys– a far-right and neo-fascist male-only organization that promotes and engages in political violence in the United States and Canada.

Neo Fascist- Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia and anti-immigration sentiment as well as opposition to liberal democracy, parliamentarianism, liberalism, Marxism, communism and socialism.

The Green New Deal (GND)- is a proposed package of United States legislation that aims to address climate change and economic inequality. The name refers back to the New Deal, a set of social and economic reforms and public works projects undertaken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in response to the Great Depression.**The main goal of the plan is to bring U.S. greenhouse gas emissions down to net-zero and meet 100% of power demand in the country through clean, renewable, and zero-emission energy sources by 2030. The Green New Deal also calls for the creation of millions of jobs to provide a job guarantee to all Americans, along with access to nature, clean air and water, healthy food, a sustainable environment, and community resiliency. (https://www.investopedia.com/the-green-new-deal-explained-4588463)

The Paris Agreement- The Paris Agreement is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, signed in 2016.

Right Wing Politics- the view that certain social orders and hierarchies are inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position on the basis of natural law, economics, or tradition.

Left Wing Politics- Left-wing politics supports social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy.

Egalitarianism- The doctrine that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities.

& last but certainly NOT least. 

Republican- also referred to as the GOP (Grand Old Party), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with its main, historic rival, the Democratic Party.

The 21st-century Republican Party ideology is American conservatism, which incorporates both economic policies and social values. The GOP supports lower taxes, free market capitalism, restrictions on immigration, increased military spending, gun rights, restrictions on abortion, deregulation and restrictions on labor unions.

Democrat- is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with its main rival, the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison‘s Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world’s oldest active political party.^[12]

The Democratic Party’s philosophy of modern liberalism blends notions of civil liberty and social equality with support for a mixed economy.^[20] In Congress, the party has influential centrist, progressive, and conservative wings. Corporate governance reform, environmental protection, support for organized labor, maintenance and expansion of social programs, affordable college tuition, universal health care, equal opportunity, and consumer protection form the core of the party’s economic agenda

On social issues, it advocates campaign finance reform,^[23] LGBT rights,^[24] criminal justice and immigration reform,^[25] stricter gun laws,^[26] abortion rights,^[27] and the legalization of marijuana.^[28]

Libertarian Party- Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, emphasizing free association, freedom of choice, individualism and voluntary association. Libertarianism shares a skepticism of authority and state power, but libertarians diverge on the scope of their opposition to existing economic and political systems.

Reform Party- Percent of Americans who want a third party. A centrist party, focused on solutions that work for all Americans (reformparty.org)

The last two debates, while highly entertaining, have not been highly informative. I, like most Americans, find myself knowing very little on where both candidates stand on the issues. How will they pick up the pieces of  healthcare, the economy and social injustices and put America back together? I dug in with as a little bias as humanly possible to figure out where these candidates stand on the hot button issues and what are the promises they are actually making.

The topic I started with was racial oppression. And I just have to say this, I was ignorant. I am embarrassed by how little I knew. I grew up with blinders and I was so unaware of so many things happening in my country, AMERICA, today in the modern age. The more I learned, the worse I felt. I had thought and said ignorant things like “I don’t see color, people are just people.” I thought I was a good person who didn’t care about race. I thought that was the solution, to not see people based on color. I now know I was part of the problem, not the solution.  I didn’t have to see race because race didn’t affect my life. I had suddenly become hyper aware of the difference between ignorance and hate. Ignorance can be educated. 

The teacher in me believes in the power of education. America is so polarized on every single issue that no one will ever learn about the other sides points and perspectives. Had I not educated myself on racial oppression I would not understand the outrage that has led to millions of protests across the country. Education changed my perspective and maybe I am naïve but I feel strongly that knowledge and truth can change the world. America is headed down the road to a polarized country fueled by hatred and paved by fear. We desperately need to take a U-Turn and knowledge can turn that wheel. That is our goal here. I do not care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat, I care that your stance is based on truths and real information.  Life is not black and white and America is not just red or blue. We can do better and for our children’s sake we have to. I feel empowered by all I have learned the last 6 months, I want to share that with you all! 

I have been surrounded by many different races my whole entire life, in 7th grade my best friends mom was white and her dad was black, my friend Tiffany was from Colombia, when I was in my 20’s my boyfriend was born in Mexico and came here with his family. Race was never a thing I thought about, immigration was just something I thought our country was built on, so I didn’t see anything wrong with it. When George Floyd was killed by the cops and the riots started, I remember seeing helicopters flying over my house because I live within 30 miles of downtown Raleigh and people were protesting. It was in that moment I needed to learn more. I wanted to learn everything; I wanted the truth. 

If you asked me just a couple years ago what I wanted to do with my life you would’ve heard “I want to be a writer” I used to want to be a journalist but then I was told by a professor that journalism was a dying profession. I didn’t understand then, but I do now. The news today is not the news our parents grew up with, or their parents before them. The news these days is a platform pushing, emotionally driven, biased political machine.

I have since then continued to educate myself on what in the world is going on in our country today. It’s scary, it’s sad and  it’s definitely not new, it has actually been going on for decades. It didn’t start with our current president or administration (though he really is fueling a fire) it’s been ingrained in our parents, our grandparents, our great grandparents etc. Since at least the 1830’s from what I’ve been learning about in school and that actually started with the Irish. Racism, political unrest, sexism; you name it, it’s been happening. What I want to do in future blogs is just educate, shed some light on the History that you don’t learn unless you decide you WANT to learn about it. Take off the blinders that people have put up (myself included) so maybe we can throw a cog in the wheel that keeps us endlessly repeating a history that we should’ve learned from long ago.