I never really considered myself that much of a political enthusiast. I had opinions on social issues, but political and economic matters were never really my strong suit.

Because of this, I believed voting in my first election would be a difficult decision. To remedy my apathy toward the political arena, I’d have to do extensive research on each of the candidate’s positions on issues that were important to me.

Thanks to the pressures of college applications and a difficult high school course load, I forgot to vote in the primaries. However, as time went on and the election date approached, voting turned out to be anything but difficult. How did this occur?

Well, for one, as I got to know the Republican nominee, I was amazed there was even a contest for the position of president of the United States this year.

I came across a diagram while browsing the internet which displayed each presidential candidate and their positions.

I found myself disagreeing with a lot of the things Trump was saying. According to tfetimes.com, Trump is against abortion and is not openly pro- same-sex marriage.

I simply couldn’t vote for a candidate who holds these values and who actually thinks building a wall along the Mexican border would fix our immigration issues. Things only got worse when I started watching the debates.

I was already aware of the absurd things he said during speeches and the way he treated audience members, but I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and listen to what he had to say.

However, what I heard him saying confused me, especially during the third debate. For one, Trump accuses our airports of being “third-world” in the first presidential debate. First of all, no they aren’t.

I visited a good amount of U.S airports in my lifetime, and I found all of them to be in great shape; clean, efficient, and modern. I mean, Chicago’s O’Hare airport looks as futuristic as the chrome Spongebob episode. Second of all, that’s far from a pressing issue, Mr. Trump.

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However, what really got me was the “locker room talk” line. For anyone who doesn’t know, in 2005, Trump was recorded talking to Billy Bush, a reporter for Access Hollywood, bragging that if you’re famous, it is easy to take advantage of women.

When confronted about this during the final debate, Trump tried to argue that the sexist things he said are without fault, because all guys say those kinds of things when they’re in private and don’t really mean anything. It’s all just “locker room talk,” according to him. All I can say is, Trump’s an idiot.

First of all, in my experience, “locker room talk” doesn’t even exist. The only thing guys did in the locker room in middle school gym class was spray Axe at each other, and during high school sports we just stayed quiet and got ready for the event or practice we had.

Second, if anything, locker room talk is to be expected from hormone-ridden and immature children. Not a grown man with children. So either Trump has the maturity of a 15-year-old, or he’s just a senile old man who has no place in the White House.

The craziest thing about Trump is that he’s essentially a third party candidate in a world of his own. He has actually spoken against some of things his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, has argued for, something that would sound ludicrous coming from anyone else, but with Trump, it doesn’t sound too crazy.

While I’m not exactly a Clinton lover, unlike Trump, she has political experience. Clinton’s reaction to Trump’s wacky antics during the debates astounded me. I couldn’t believe how calmly she dealt with all the crazy things he was saying. She looked the most presidential of the two by far, and that confirmed my vote for Clinton.

I’m writing this before the election, even though this edition of the Cynic will come out after the results are finalized. I haven’t really pictured what America will be like with a Trump presidency (mostly because I haven’t wanted to think about it), but I know that things are not going to be the best for America.

If Trump gets elected, he’s probably going to try to get abolish some laws and acts that have been enacted in the last eight years, namely Obamacare and the same-sex marriage law.

Most disturbing of all, according to lgbtqnation.com, he will sign the “First Amendment Defense Act,” which will allow businesses, healthcare providers, and landlords to legally discriminate against LGBTQ people. If this isn’t a huge step back, I don’t know what is.