Reflection Paper about My Views on Politics

This is the story of how the 2016 election changed my views on politics forever. I never cared for politics prior to the election of 2016, but that would soon change. The events that occurred around the time period of the election caused a shift in my views that would alter who I am. It changed how I would think about the country and the political entities that ruled it. My experience during the election caused me to become more involved in politics as politics decide the direction of the country and impact over 300 million people. 

During the years leading up to 2016, I had always found politics to be annoying and unnecessary. They had always seemed to be uninteresting and something that only adults watched. Whenever my sister and I would spend a couple of nights at our grandmother’s house, the TV was usually tuned to Fox News, and some boring news story would always play. Whenever I would wake up in the middle of the night, something was always on about politics.

On the night of the election, I was surrounded by my family in the living room, intently watching the TV. We keenly viewed the TV screen as the blueish tint from Fox News lit up the den. The poll numbers from the state after state would appear, giving votes to both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. It soon became late, and I had to go to bed without knowing the results. I did not know much about either candidate, but I really didn’t want Hillary to win. I had heard about some of the events involving her, yet it seemed almost irrelevant. Now she was running for office, which made me more anxious about the results. I was not a serious fan of Donald Trump, but I felt that Hillary would be much worse. The next morning, I snatched my phone from the shelf, because I had to know who won. Surprisingly, it was the BBC who reported that Donald Trump was now the President of the United States. I rushed downstairs to show my family the news. “Mom, Dad, look!” I shouted. “He did it, he won.”. My mom replied, “Really?” “He did?”. She was just as surprised as me. The joy I felt knowing this wouldn’t last; when I got to school that morning, it seemed as if I was very outnumbered by people who were very against him.

There were many radical groups that I did not know existed such as Antifa and Black Lives Matter. I was still very new to anything involving politics and had no idea what Antifa or BLM was. Their attacks would only ramp up after he was sworn into office. I watched many news stations and outlets as they reported on many attacks that took place involving radical groups. BLM and Antifa were the frontrunners in domestic attacks from riots and looting to harassment and property damage. I became angry as I wondered how a group of people could have so much hate that was stirred up after the election to damage property and harass people. At my middle school, it seemed as if every single person there was in fact a Democrat. At this point in my life, I was very much a Republican. I suddenly felt very tense as everyone in the classroom appeared to be very serious and very angry. Their eyes were squinty and many of the students had clenched fists. 

Both major political parties had their issues which was a large factor in me switching to a third party. For about 4 years I was unofficially part of the republican party. I had many of the same views and ideas. My parents and grandmother were also large factors in my becoming involved, but they didn’t cause me to switch parties. Many Democrats in power had no luck solving important issues and always seemed to divide people. When I was in 11th grade, I really noticed this. I made the realization that both Democrats and Republicans thought they could solve issues in their own way but failed in solving others. During my senior year of high school, I decided it was time for me to go a third way. I then pre-registered for the Constitution Party and it bases on God, Family, and Country.

After witnessing the events that occurred after the 2016 election, my perspective of domestic politics was altered. I become involved in politics and soon joined the party that my grandmother and parents were part of. I became a staunch Conservative and Republican. However, after seeing that many important issues were never solved, I soon had to rethink my position. I decided that the Constitution Party was the best option for me. I really find the values of God, family, and country to be crucial. The corruption and incompetence of the republican and democrat platforms made me realize that they were not for me. Therefore, I decided to go the third way and join the Constitutionalists.