AMANDA SCHEIB
Special to The Leader
This election has proved itself to be monumentally influential, and will surely be one for the history books.
People are lining up to vote in massive amounts unlike ever before.
Our current president, Donald Trump, is on the side of the conservative Republican party, and our former vice president, Joe Biden, could be labeled a “middle of the road” Democrat.
For his 2020 presidential campaign, Trump continues to stand by his policies that he ran with in 2016.
This year, he will focus on the refining of immigration and economic issues (like taxes) and new, reformed healthcare along with the new issue of COVID-19.
Related to the virus, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are criticized for the misfire and irresponsible actions to contain COVID and its impact on American lives.
Our executive branch claims their response was adequate, yet they still have over 200,000 American lives to answer for.
Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, focus mainly on reversing many of the plans Trump has proposed or enacted during his presidency.
On top of reversing policies, Biden promotes combating climate change, achieving racial justice, creating affordable healthcare and controlling the pandemic.
When comparing and contrasting policies, Biden is cautious with reopening the economy due to COVID without increased and adequate testing.
Trump wants to push for a stronger economy despite the health risks.
He does not support a mask mandate, leaving this responsibility to individual states and their governors to propose one.
Biden supports a national mask mandate and believes that the federal government has the right to enact one.
Another main difference between the two candidates is the issue of membership with the World Health Organization, which can be seen in the category of foreign affairs.
America was involved in the WHO before Trump took office, but he submitted a notice of withdrawal to remove us from the organization this year.
He claims this is because of their response to the “China virus.”
Biden has said multiple times that his administration, if elected, would remain a part of the organization and attempt to heal wounds created by Trump.
Some similarities that both candidates have related to COVID are as follows: plans to expand federal COVID-19 testing, to support the reopening of schools safely and effectively and to fast track the research on a possible vaccine.
An important topic that not only affects the U.S., but the whole globe similarly to COVID is climate change.
When analyzing Republican and Democratic stances, they are quite different.
The Republican candidate is unclear on most climate change policies. This is due to the simple fact that Trump does not believe in climate change.
In an interview circa 2015, Trump said, “I believe in clean air, immaculate air… But I don’t believe in climate change.” In the fifth Democractic Debate, Biden said, “I think [climate change] is the existential threat to humanity.”
Trump has removed the U.S. from the Paris Climate Accord, an agreement between many countries around the world to reduce greenhouse emissions and help protect the environment.
Biden has proposed a $2 trillion policy to help fight climate change and remove carbon emissions by 2035 in addition to creating 10 million jobs inclean energy.
As for common ground, both candidates support hydrofracking in some capacity, but hydrofracking primarily harms the environment.
The major producer of emissions other than big corporations are fossil fuel productions.
Trump openly endorses the use of fossil fuels, while Biden has an unclear stance.
The Trump administration has rolled back over 100 major environmental regulations that would help contain adverse effects on the climate.
Biden considers protecting the environment a top priority, while Trump does not believe in the so-called “phenomenon.”
Voting this year is of great importance.
All of the topics listed will affect the U.S. as a whole, not just yourself and your families.
If it affects you, it will most likely affect others in Utah, Iowa and Texas, who might not have a voice like you do.
Being informed is more crucial than ever before. Voting according to your individual values and opinions is normal, but this year let’s vote informed and responsibly.
Let’s be on the right side of history this year.