The 2016 presidential race is no longer about choosing the right person to fix the country. Instead, we have to choose the lesser evil.
Between the top three candidates — Sen. Bernie Sanders, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — there is no good choice for president. The only way to decide between them is to choose a less terrible option.
The obvious worst choice for president, yet the best choice for the Democratic nomination, is Sanders. The only thing worse than a struggling nation is a struggling nation led by a full-fledged democratic socialist.
Sanders and his supporters are honestly living in a make-believe world if they think any form of socialism ever worked. Socialism created the economic disaster plaguing Greece.
Clinton is almost as bad as Sanders, but fortunately, she is just a closeted socialist. However, her indirect role in Benghazi, resulting in American deaths abroad, makes her untrustworthy and unfit to run a country.
She has also been shown as untrustworthy with her recent email scandal. Another corrupt politician in office is not what we need, especially former Pres. Bill Clinton’s wife, the president whose policies created the Great Recession and housing market collapse.
Sadly, Trump seems to be the best option out of the top three candidates. He is practically insane based on how he treats others, and his policies are poorly thought out. Fortunately, he is not a career politician. The only benefit of his presidency is that he will fix President Barack Obama’s failures.
I wouldn’t be surprised if most people abstained from voting this season, since none of the candidates look good for this country. Hope fades as the primaries and caucuses end. The chances of a fourth contender grows dimmer.
Sen. Ted Cruz could still pull ahead of Trump, but Sen. Marco Rubio would have to drop out of the race. Making Cruz a more viable option would give the nation a candidate who truly wishes to fix the country.
Cruz wants to pass a constitutional amendment forcing the federal government to pass a balanced budget. As president, he will be able to gain the support in Congress necessary to pass the amendment.
Hopefully, the country can decide to do the right thing and elect Cruz as its the next president. If not, the choice comes down to a socialist, a traitor or an idiot as the next commander in chief.
Garrett Marcel is a 22-year-old petroleum engineering senior from Houma, Louisiana.