Submission: Don’t let terrible political conventions discourage you from voting

While I was taking a walk the other morning, I found some people playing “Pokemon Go” together at the beach. One person must have caught a rare Pokemon as he shouted “I got it!” The rest of the group then gathered around him and stared at his phone screen with curiosity. Laughing, talking and sharing their phones, these people were clearly having fun. The game’s power to bring people together is truly impressive. However, this scene of harmony was a stark contrast to the chaos going on right now in the world of politics.

Watching the conventions of both major political parties is a test of one’s sanity. The 2016 Republican National Convention opened up with a high-profile plagiarized speech. A potential first lady took half of a paragraph almost word-for-word from Michelle Obama’s 2008 Democratic National Convention speech. Her campaign and the Republican National Committee refused to admit it, until Melanie Trump’s speech writer took all the blame on herself. Given that the GOP can tolerate obvious plagiarism while warning about the moral ills of marijuana, they can include this line in the party platform: “Legalize plagiarism, not marijuana!”

Another event at the GOP convention struck me: three crime victims testified about the dangers of undocumented immigrants. While I sympathize with these victims’ suffering and losses, it is simply absurd for the GOP to generalize 11 million people as dangerous criminals. A 2015 study conducted by the American Immigration Council concluded that undocumented immigrants are less likely to commit crimes compared to United States citizens. The authors of this study speculate that the low crime rates in immigrant communities are due to fear of deportation. Hence, the GOP’s sweeping generalization was not only an insult to immigrants, but also an insult to the three witnesses they invited to testify. There is nothing more distasteful than using people’s suffering for political gain.

As a young liberal, I was expecting the Democratic National Convention to be much better, but it was not. Instead of plagiarizing speeches and stereotyping undocumented immigrants, the Democratic convention was plagued by allegations of corruption. WikiLeaks released email exchanges featuring Democratic National Committee staffers’ plot to demonize Bernie Sanders as an atheist, hoping to dissuade voters in southern states from casting their ballots for him. Now we know the party was planning to engage in unethical activities that could have obstructed the fair process of primary elections. Great. The Republicans were cheating their speeches, and the Democrats were cheating their party primaries.

There is a similarity between the Republicans’ demonization of undocumented immigrants and the DNC’s attack on Sanders. The Republicans were stirring up xenophobic sentiments by portraying undocumented immigrants as criminals. Similarly, the Democrats were playing on the stereotype that that atheists are not virtuous enough to run the office. Both parties preyed on the public’s ignorance in order to gain political power.

The chaos, absurdity, corruption, hypocrisy and divisiveness that characterized both conventions reflect the worst aspects of American politics. It seems like no matter which party you vote for in November, you are destined to make a mistake.

But maybe it’s not as bad as it seems. As I was watching “Pokemon Go” players gathering at the beach, I realized that what brought them together was their common interest of playing the game. In real life, perhaps our greatest common interest is a better America. We are all disappointed and angry about politics, but having these strong feelings shows that we still care about the country. It shows that you care. It is this very desire that will allow us to come together and have discussions about tough issues, despite our keen disagreements.

The public is getting tired of hearing stories about political misconduct, but we as college students cannot stand idle. We must expose the unethical conduct of both major political parties and continue to demand accountability from them. More important, don’t give up on voting. If you find it hard to like both presidential candidates, then vote for the lesser of the two evils. If you’re angry, continue to get angry. It shows that you care. If you really just can’t stand all this anymore, then take a break and play “Pokemon Go.” I guarantee that’ll restore your sanity for a bit, and you’ll be a better voter in November.

Yi Zhang, Jesus Limon and Lizeth Sebasian are graduate students studying social work.