Presidential Politics
Launch the media gallery 1 playerAs previously printed in the Norfolk Daily News
Kolton has been a student opinion column writer for the Norfolk Daily News for the past year. His columns are printed once a month in the teen feature page “20 Below.” Kolton was asked to pick one of his favorite columns that he has written so far to share with the Leigh World.
As of right now, the presidential race is pretty close; it doesn’t seem like any candidate really has an upper hand. This race to me really looks like a joke right now because of the fact that Donald Trump is a legitimate candidate. In my opinion, Trump is merely a celebrity who thinks he can run a country just because he doesn’t agree with what our president is doing right now. The fact that he is actually leading the Republican Party I think really emphasizes that people don’t know enough about politics. People in our country, especially young people, simply don’t know enough about politics. Too many people are ignorant, and they are completely fine with their ignorance, which means they aren’t making reasonable decisions. They are just voting for a name, or because they think that it would be funny or interesting to have him as president. I think to get quality candidates like Ben Carson leading the polls, politicians need to break down their beliefs in a clear way that doesn’t beat around the bush. This doesn’t mean dumbing it down so that teenagers understand, but taking what they believe in and explaining how it would affect teenagers, or what the benefits for them would be in the present and future.
The public, in return, needs to be proactive and get informed. As I said, as of right now, Donald Trump is leading the Republican Party. I will be the first to admit that I am not an experts in politics. But I have enough common sense to know that, at least on the surface, he seems like an accident waiting to happen for our country. From what I have seen and heard, I think Ben Carson is the best candidate right now. I like him because, even though he is a political outsider, he is very knowledgeable and knows what he wants to accomplish. He says what he thinks and stands firm in his beliefs, making no apologies. Like Trump, he offends a good amount of people, but this is not just for show. He’s not a career politician, and he isn’t used to being under a microscope all the time. That is really why I like Ben Carson. He speaks his mind, and his ideas have substance; they aren’t just empty threats or promises.
This is my opinion. My hope is that other teens will take the time to get informed so they can think for themselves and form their own opinions.