Youth Vote
In March of 2016, three researchers from the University of Rochester set out to conduct an experiment. Yu Wang, Yuncheng Li, and Jiebo Luo ended up with a paper titled Deciphering the 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign in the Twitter Sphere: A Comparison of the Trumpists and Clintonists. The paper compared the Twitter followers of the two major party candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, of the 2016 presidential election.
By Dejarelle Gaines
This upcoming election is proving to be a first in many respects, including the mass commodification of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. From cookies, to Halloween costumes, to coloring books, and clothing and accessories, this election has seen the popularization of the image of both presidential candidates. Now, whether this is a good or a bad thing, there is no concrete answer, but there are ways to look at this from a critical angle.
Continue reading “The Commodification of the Presidential Candidate”
“My vote and my support are two completely different things,” Mark Machuzick says. The 24 year old from Minnetonka, Minnesota, now living in Washington D.C., speaks about the 2016 election with punctuated sighs. “I’m not voting for Hillary, I’m voting against Trump,” he explains.
Earlier this month, an incident on University of Minnesota’s campus illustrated just how the current state of affairs rouses strong feelings on both sides of the campaign line. During the U’s annual “Paint the Bridge” event, where student groups on campus paint murals to demonstrate their mission and promote their community, the College Republicans caused quite an uproar. Their mural read “Build the Wall,” next to a banner advocating for Trump/Pence 2016. Within 24 hours, members of students groups promoting multiculturalism spray painted over the mural with the message “Stop White Supremacy,” an act considered by many authorities on campus, including President Eric Kaler, to be vandalism.
This year’s presidential election is definitely one for the record books. Beyond unconventional candidate choices and one scandal after the next, this election cycle will be highlighted as one in which millennials were targeted relentlessly.
Millennials are considered immensely vulnerable to influences by celebrity figures. Products and ideas have always been pushed through celebrities in marketing campaigns, but now celebrities are increasingly participating in the election process.
“If this country disgusts you so much, leave.”
Tomi Lahren, online political commentator, has taken any form of protest to mean disdain for America as a whole.
Political and civil protests have been shaking up the American political climate more frequently in recent times. Police brutality, racism, and inequality have spurred national movements and coalitions to form in order to address and protest these issues and others. Some people opposed to these demonstrations have called into question the protesters’ “patriotism” and their loyalty to their nation.
Continue reading “Patriotism and Protest: Can they Coexist?”
