The Next Vice President

 Joe Biden is likely to be the democratic nominee in 2020. He has pledged to choose a woman as his vice presidential running mate. There’s been discussion about who is being considered as a possible vice president. One possible candidate is Elizabeth Warren, who could be a good choice and appealing to Bernie Sanders’ supporters because she is more progressive. One drawback of this is that she is older and some voters might prefer a younger candidate to run with Biden. Some people also say she could be the attorney general because of her past experience as a lawyer. Another possible candidate is Amy Klobuchar who was also running for president, and Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan. During the last election, Clinton struggled getting votes in the midwest so those two might be more appealing to voters there. There is also Kamala Harris, Stacy Abrams and Catherine Cortez Masto, who many voters think would be good to have as a vice president because they are minorities and will provide more representation. Another option is Tammy Duckworth, who could also be strong with midwestern voters, and she is Asian-American which would provide representation for minorities, and she is also a veteran from the Iraq War which gives her a lot of appeal especially to fellow veterans and older voters.

Any of these women are very prepared and qualified to serve as vice president and to take over the role of being president if it was necessary. It would also set them up as top contenders for the next presidential election. I think Kamala Harris would be a good choice for many reasons. She was already in the presidential race, and she has a decent amount of supporters already. She is also a minority which I think would be great to have as a vice president (or president for that matter) because she would provide more representation in the government of the country. She is still young compared to other candidates such as Elizabeth Warren, which may appeal more to young voters. Another reason I think she would be successful is because she has proved to be a strong debater and would most likely do well in debates against Pence. 

Kamala Harris

I also think Elizabeth Warren would be a good candidate in many aspects, but her place in the senate could make many voters reluctant to vote for her. She is from Massachusetts, and if she leaves her position the governor will be able to choose a new senator to take her place. This is an issue because the governor, who is a republican, would choose a republican causing democrats to lose a seat in the senate while still trying to win it back. 

Overall, I think all of these women would make a great vice president and they are all qualified for the position, but in my opinion, the best option would be Kamala Harris.

Works Cited 

Cadelago, Christopher, and Natasha Korecki. “Kamala Emerges as Early Biden VP Favorite as Sting of Debate Attack Fades.” POLITICO, 10 May 2020, www.politico.com/news/2020/05/10/kamala-harris-early-biden-vice-president-favorite-248615.

“Kamala Harris For The People.” Kamala Harris For The People, kamalaharris.org.

Political Violence Internationally

On February 11th, 2020, the first primary for the 2020 presidential candidates was held in New Hampshire. Leading up to the next election, there has been lots of debate and arguments about who should become the next president or if we should keep the current president in office. As I addressed in my last blog post about partisanship, the many people in both political parties are becoming more and more polarized in their beliefs rather than having productive discussions about their opinions. This is causing a lot of tension to build in the political climate. When this tension builds, sometimes it can lead to violence. Unfortunately this was the case when a voter at Windham High School slapped a 15 year old Trump supporter while leaving the high school. Though I don’t agree with the views of the Trump supporter, violence is definitely not the answer to this situation. 

Since this happened, the story has appeared on many news sources such as the New York Post, Fox News, Washington Post, and CNN. While coming across these articles I found it interesting how much attention this story got. This kind of political violence doesn’t happen often in the United States, much less in New Hampshire, which made it get spread around a lot. It can also be used as an accusation for republicans to use against democrats. 

Meanwhile, the spread of the coronavirus throughout China has caused tensions between China and Hong Kong to rise, rekindling the protests that were rampant during the summer and fall of 2019. During these protests there was a lot of violence between the protesters and the police, who used forces such as pepper spray and ammunition. Recently, there have been more protests because Hong Kong citizens want to close the border to China to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. This has brought back some of the violence that was seen in the former protests. Despite this, I only heard about these new protests because I was looking for specific news articles. 

Hong Kong protesters

When minor violence happens in the United States, we see it all over the news and it can cause lots of uproar. Yet when there is major amounts of violence happening in other countries, most people will barely hear about it. These examples of political violence really show how different the political climate is in different countries. It was interesting to see the difference between what is happening in this country versus in other countries, how different it is, and how sometimes we take our safety and ability to freely protest without all of the violence that the protesters in Hong Kong face fighting for their own rights. 

Works Cited

Barron, Laignee. "The Coronavirus Has Brought Out the Ugly Side of Hong Kong's Protest Movement." 

     Time, 19 Feb. 2020, time.com/5784258/ 

     hong-kong-democracy-separatism-coronavirus-covid-19/. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020. 

Fei, Lam Yik. protesters marching. New York Times, 13 Nov. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/11/13/world/ 

     asia/hong-kong-protests.html. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020. 

Feuerherd, Ben. "Man accused of slapping teen Trump supporter during New Hampshire primary." New 

     York Post, 14 Feb. 2020, nypost.com/2020/02/14/ 

     man-accused-of-slapping-teen-trump-supporter-during-new-hampshire-primary/. Accessed 19 Feb. 

     2020. 

Griffiths, James. "Hong Kong enters 16th weekend of protests as police warn violence escalating 

     beyond control." CNN, 21 Sept. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/09/20/asia/hong-kong-protests-intl-hnk/ 

     index.html. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020. 

Hume, Tim. "Arson, Pepper Spray, and Arrests: Hong Kong Protesters Want to Close the Border With 

     China Over Coronavirus." Vice, 18 Feb. 2020, www.vice.com/en_us/article/4ag47d/ 

     arson-pepper-spray-and-arrests-hong-kong-protesters-want-to-close-the-border-with-china-over-coronavi 

     rus. Accessed 19 Feb. 2020. 

How Partisanship is Ruining Politics

The topic of politics has always been somewhat of a dangerous topic for discussion with family and friends, and what can start out as a friendly debate can turn into arguments. Since the 2016 election, the polarization in politics has only gotten worse. The two parties have gotten more and more separated in these past few years. This separation has caused the two sides to become hostile towards each other, with conflict mostly between those on the far end of the left or right.

Because of this, people would mostly assume that people who are friends with each other would share the same political values. Politics have become such a prevalent topic that it would usually make sense for people to stay in their own groups in order to avoid conflicts. But this isn’t always the case. Two best friends, Caitlin Quattromani and Lauran Arledge, gave a TED Talk about their experience as friends who belong to different parties, and how they have worked past their differences to keep their friendship intact.

In their TED Talk, they explain how in 2016 they both voted for different candidates, and both of them disliked the candidate that the other voted for. When the results came in, they supported each other instead of fighting or ignoring the issue. They also had an experience where one of them went to the Women's March and brought her sons. Her friend did not agree with her decision, but they talked about it and resolved the conflict. Because they have been able to work through their differences like this, they have kept their friendship for a long time. 

Polarization and partisanship in politics is a big issue. It makes it impossible to come to a compromises in government and instead lengthens processes such as passing laws. It also scares people away from politics because they do not want to get into conflicts. In my last blog post I wrote about how we need more people to vote, and this is yet another reason why people may not vote. If we could overcome the differences our political parties have and have more friendly discussions it could lead to a much less scary political climate. If we could just get to the point as a country where we can have political debates without them turning into arguments, it would make politics easier and would stop putting friendships at stake. 

Works Cited

Donkey and Elephant. Portable Press, Printers Row, 26 July 2016,  www.portablepress.com/blog/201.6/07/history-american-party-system-part/.                                  ⠀⠀⠀⠀Accessed 25 Nov. 2019.

Quattromani, Caitlin, and Lauran Arledge. "How our friendship survives our opposing politics."
        TEDxMileHigh, July 2017. Lecture.

Why Voter Turnout is Important for our Country

"I voted" stickers.

Voting is one of the most important things a citizen can do to express their desires for their country’s  uture. In a democracy, citizens can choose who they want to be a leader and can base their votes on their own personal opinions. Yet many people in the United States don’t take the opportunity to vote. In the article “Get More People to Vote” the author Steve Case references the fact that “in 2018, only 49 percent of eligible adults voted in America.” Less than half of the people who could vote actually did. If everyone who could have voted did, the results of the elections could have turned out very different. This is why voter turnout is so important. If we want the elected government officials to accurately represent the people of the United States, then we need more people to vote.

There are many reasons why people don’t vote, such as having to work while voting is taking place, not having knowledge about politics, or simply not being interested. There are also many ways to fix these issues.

To fix the issue of voters being unavailable, some have proposed either making the day of elections a national holiday or moving elections to Veterans Day. The author of the article “Move Voting to Veterans Day,” Jill Lepore, would rather move elections to Veterans Day because it would not require having to make another paid holiday on a different election day.

Educating people about politics and getting them interested may be a more difficult task. There should be more education about politics in school so that people learn from a younger age about how politics work and allow them to form their own opinions. People will be educated on how to choose candidates and how to vote.

If we add more education about politics, it could also work to get people more interested in the topic. People will be more aware of issues in the government and would be able to figure out their own opinions on how to solve them. When people are more interested in politics, they will want to vote. If people know what’s happening in their country they can make votes that show their own individual opinions and elect the right people for the United States of America.

Works Cited

Case, Steve. "Get More People to Vote." Politico, www.politico.com/interactives/2019/
          how-to-fix-politics-in-america/participation/get-more-people-to-vote/. Accessed 15 Nov. 2019.
Lepore, Jill. "Move Voting to Veterans Day." Politico, www.politico.com/interactives/2019/
         how-to-fix-politics-in-america/participation/move-elections-to-veterans-day/. Accessed 15 Nov.
         2019.

Velez, Monica. "'I voted' stickers." Valley Public Radio, www.kvpr.org/post/
         theyre-sticky-oval-shaped-red-white-and-blue-why-do-we-get-i-voted-stickers. Accessed 15     Nov. 2019.