The First Amendment in the Constitution of the United States says “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of the press.” It could not be more plain or simple. A member of the press has the right to report on an event freely as long as the report is factually accurate. President Donald Trump and his administration have shown that they do not see it that way. Trump and his staff have done everything in their power to discredit, control and manipulate the media ever since Trump’s presidential campaign began in June of 2015.

“

You are fake news”

— Donald Trump

“You are fake news.”

One of Trump’s most famous quotes, blurted out while a CNN reporter asked him a question at a press conference, summarizes his ideology perfectly. The Trump administration has declared war on the media. Trump even called them “the enemy of the people.” He has attacked nearly every news organization that has run a negative story of him, from the “failing” New York Times, to the “rigged” polls; Trump has done his best to tell people that the media’s negative stories of him are lies and should not be read. He is attempting to intentionally mislead the American people to make himself look better and to raise his approval ratings. Even Fox News’ Shepard Smith, a host on the country’s most conservative major media network, defended CNN’s journalistic practices, saying, “CNN’s reporting was not fake news. Its journalists followed the same standards to which other news organizations, including Fox News, adhere.”

At every opportunity throughout his campaign and presidency, Trump has blamed the “mainstream media” for his low polls and many of the scandals surrounding him, making them, the “MSM,” a popular scapegoat among Trump’s supporters. Trump’s administration is the worst for free press since that of former President Richard Nixon, and perhaps all of American history.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer, has repeatedly lashed out at reporters during press conferences, and has lied to the press. The outbursts have become so common that they were even satirized on Saturday Night Live by Melissa McCarthy. He falsified a terrorist attack, claiming that one occurred in Atlanta, GA, though one never did. He repeatedly endorsed the false statements of Trump, even if he was directly countered by journalists in the room. Spicer even held a private press conference, barring many journalists from media outlets seen as “unfriendly” to the administration. The small meeting, led by Spicer, barred CNN, The New York Times, Politico and many other sources from receiving information from Spicer. The Trump Administration came under heavy fire from the media and the public for what has been viewed as a legal hampering of the freedom of the press.

Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, was Trump’s third and final campaign manager during the 2016 election. She has been the subject of numerous scandals, mostly stemming from her numerous interviews on nearly every major cable news station, including Fox News, CNN and MSNBC. Conway is one of Trump’s staunchest defenders on television, and a master of deflecting questions. She became famous after coining the term “alternative facts” during an MSNBC interview and inventing the “Bowling Green Massacre,” a terrorist attack that never happened. After both of these blatant lies, many shows refused to book Conway, citing her shaky record. After taking a brief hiatus from television interviews, Spicer commenting that she was “being counseled” by the administration, Conway went back to her old ways, seemingly making up “facts” as she went through her interviews. Following Trump’s claim that former President Obama wiretapped his Trump Tower phone lines, another one of his false claims, Conway backed up her boss, saying that Obama spied on people through their microwaves.

Later that same day, during a different interview, she defended herself: “I’m not Inspector Gadget, I don’t believe people are using the microwave to spy on the Trump campaign. However, I’m not in the job of having evidence; that’s what investigations are for.” Conway’s denial of evidence only backs up many people’s claims that she lies on the spot during interviews. Then, she makes up evidence to manipulate viewers before cleaning up loose ends in later interviews, like the one quoted above. This is common practice for all of Trump’s advisors: a simple policy of making a claim now, and fixing the issues later. It’s all about making the most noise to rally the base, and then slowly controlling the fallout until a new claim can be made.

The purpose of the Trump campaign, and now the Trump Administration, is not to inform the American people, but to mislead them while discrediting all that oppose its views. As an example, the Trump campaign hailed the unemployment reports released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as “fake news” and “completely false” when they showed figures of a booming economy under Obama, such as a low 4.7 percent unemployment rate in December, the best of Obama’s two terms. Once Trump took office, the tables turned, and the numbers became “wonderful” and “proof of the president’s success,” despite following the same trends and under the same policies of Obama. Trump is essentially calling everything that looks bad for him “fake” or “lies,” and everything good, no matter how minor or hypocritical, “huge,” “wonderful” and “amazing.” This again proves the unscrupulous deception of Donald Trump and his cohorts.

The freedom of the press has been assaulted by the presidency of Trump, and it appears that it will continue. Trump lauded the American Health Care Act, sometimes referred to as TrumpCare or RyanCare, a bill that cannot be passed due to its many flaws and that has been labeled “dead on arrival.”

Trump has used his position as the center of attention in the media to turn the American people against the very body that brings them news of Trump. This strategy has sometimes worked, causing record increases in traffic to sites such as InfoWars and Breitbart, far-right news sources that are praised by Trump. On the contrary, papers like the New York Times and Washington Post, two of Trump’s harshest critics, have also seen record subscription increases, showing that the American people will not give up their first amendment rights.

It is the responsibility of every single American, no matter their political affiliation, to look past the smoke and mirrors of the Trump media circus and see the truth: an entire administration built on lies and hysteria, with no real policy to back it up.

Like most other politicians, President Donald Trump made many promises while on the campaign trail throughout 2015 and 2016. From deporting all of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the country to building a large wall on our southern border, Trump has had his fair share of radical policies. Which will become law, and which will fade into oblivion? Here’s a few of his many political policies explained in detail.

Health Care

Trump has repeatedly claimed that ‘priority one’ of his presidency is the repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, the 44th president’s crown jewel in his legislative legacy. The ACA covers 22 million Americans with health care at a lower cost than private coverage. The ACA made health care coverage mandatory for all Americans in some form, driving average costs down for everybody and improving average health care quality for Americans. Trump has proposed repealing the act immediately and proposing a replacement “very soon,” even though leaders of the Republican Party in the Senate estimated that it would take two to three years to pass an alternative plan.

The Wall

President Trump first mentioned his plan to build a wall on the mexican border during his announcement speech in July of 2015 from Trump Tower in New York City. Trump also pledged that Mexico would pay for the building of the wall, a point that the Mexican president, Congress and people have all denied fervently. Recently, Trump has compromised on this idea, saying that Mexico will pay for the wall once it is built, leaving the initial cost to the American taxpayers.

Russian Interference in the Election

The actions of Russia before, during and after this election season have no doubt been the hottest topic on the news and with President Trump. 19 of the nation’s intelligence agencies, including the FBI, CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), concluded in a report published in October that the government of Russia hacked the Democratic Party’s email server and published those leaks through WikiLeaks in an attempt to assist Trump’s campaign. Trump has repeatedly denied these claims, even though Republican Senate leaders, including Sen. John McCain, who ran against former President Obama in 2008, accept it as fact, a prime example of the divisions between the White House and Capitol Hill. In a press conference on Jan. 10, Trump said the hack on the Democratic Party’s email server “may have been Russia,” the closest Trump has ever been to blaming Russia. Russia’s affiliation is accepted as fact in both parties. It’s very unlikely that significant sanctions or other punishments against Russia will be signed into law under a Trump presidency.

Russian Actions in Ukraine

In March of 2014, the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea was annexed by Russia. The move was disguised as a democratic referendum and has been viewed as an aggressive action by the Kremlin. The European Union and the United States have both put punitive sanctions on Russia for the annexation, as well as their assistance to an ongoing rebellion in eastern Ukraine. The rebels are Russian separatists and are reportedly supplied by Russia, though they have denied this. Both the Republican and Democratic parties have called for additional sanctions, and some for war crime investigations, against Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. President Trump has again come to Russia’s defense, saying that additional sanctions are not required and that Crimea is a part of Russia legally.

Russian Actions in Syria

Russia has also assisted President Bashar Al-Assad of Syria in the ongoing Syrian Civil War. The rebels have been supplied by the United States, and Russia has run multiple air strike raids against the rebels on behalf of the Syrian government. John Kerry, Secretary of State under President Obama and Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, called for war crime investigations against President Putin and President Assad for the airstrikes and the large amounts of civilian casualties, some killed by poison gas, which has been outlawed since World War I in the Geneva Conventions. Trump, his advisors and his cabinet nominees have all refused to call Putin a war criminal, a point that has been criticized mainly by former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida. Trump’s actions allude to a future of inaction on additional sanctions against Russia and possible combativeness between the Trump administration and Senate Republicans.

House of Representatives and the Independent Ethics Committee

Late at night on Jan. 2, House Republicans added to their proposed rules for the new House session that the Independent Ethics Committee would be put under control of the House itself. This committee has acted as the watchdog for the House, accepting anonymous complaints and investigating them individually and independently. The rule, if put into effect, would gut the power of the committee, leaving very few to be responsible for the oversight of the House of Representatives and its Congressmen. The plan was reversed by Virginia Representative Bob Goodlatte, against the recommendation of House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. Then-President-Elect Trump displayed his disapproval of the move the next day, tweeting “With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it … may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS.” The tweet was followed by a swift reversal from the House, removing the proposal from the rules. This may signal something greater in government for the next four years. President Trump appears to be the final word in the House of Representatives, a level of control he hasn’t been able to manage over the Senate so far. To Trump, the House is a blank check for policy within realistic boundaries, with only the Senate holding him back once he announces his Supreme Court Justice pick, as well as with his other policies.

Supreme Court

After the sudden and unexpected death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February of 2016, the Supreme Court is nearing a whole year of only having eight justices on the court. President Obama nominated Merrick Garland to the court, but the Republican Senate has refused to schedule an appointment hearing date for him. The Republican Party has gone against tradition by blocking Obama’s nominee in an effort to wait for a Republican justice to be appointed. It is unclear who Trump’s nominee will be, but it is almost guaranteed that his nominee will be appointed almost immediately after their nomination, changing the Court to a 5-4 Republican majority. This paves the way for sweeping changes in Constitutional Law, and many court cases that may be overturned, including Roe v. Wade, the decision that makes it illegal to ban abortions.

Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood

Trump’s policies on the campaign trail about reproductive rights have followed the Republican Party’s platform, as Trump is firmly pro-life. He plans to overturn the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade once he appoints a Republican justice. This court case makes it illegal to ban abortion, and overturning it would pave the way for states to make abortion illegal. It is although unlikely that it will be made illegal nationally however, as the Republican Party has long fought on the side of states’ rights. Trump also wants to withdraw all federal funding from Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a public clinic service that provides basic health care and parenting resources to many poor Americans, mostly women. Planned Parenthood also provides abortions, but abortions are paid for by private donations to the organization, as they can not be paid for with federal funds. If all goes to plan for President Trump, Planned Parenthood will be fully de-funded and will have to shut its doors, leaving many poor Americans without access to health services.

These policies may or may not be put into place, but they are policies that Trump ran on. If he does not fulfill these promises, he may face an uprising from his own base.

On the afternoon of July 19, 2015, Sam Dubose was pulled over by University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing. The traffic stop was standard procedure, but it escalated quickly. From his body cam and dash cam video, Tensing is seen shooting Dubose in the head, killing him instantly. This confrontation, lasting under a minute, has been debated for months by experts and citizens, and finally went to court on Nov. 1.

Through a series of testimonies and careful cross-examinations, the prosecution presented their case for the murder and voluntary manslaughter charges against Tensing. After 25 hours of deliberation, the jury could not come to a decision and the case ended in a mistrial. Attorney General Joe Deters has brought the case before trial again; the first hearing of the second trial took place on Dec. 5.The trial may have already decided its first opinion, but the court of public opinion has been hearing the case since the shooting occurred on July 19, 2015.

After the mistrial was announced on Nov. 9, dozens of protesters, many originally protesting the election of Donald Trump and others in support of Black Lives Matter, joined an ongoing protest against the result of the case.The protesters called for “Justice for Sam Dubose”, and kept protesting throughout the day. The results of the second trial are still unknown, as the trial so far is very close, and the results again may make the city erupt in protest, like it did on Nov. 9.The protests are very similar to those in Charleston, SC on Nov. 30 over the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott outside of his home.The Attorney General there chose not to charge the officer that shot Scott, sparking days of protests and riots in the city. Both of these protests signal a rising trend in American culture, specifically with African Americans, that people are fed up with discrimination in the criminal justice system.

Only time will tell if these protests will result in the change needed to fix the stem of this issue.

The morning of Nov. 9th arrives. Some of the country grimaces while others cheer as the results of the election are reported. But the votes cast on Nov. 8 do little to select the next President of the United States.

The national election is nothing but an opinion poll for the electoral college. Who you were really voting for was not Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, but a group of electors nominated by the Republican and Democratic parties to select the president at the meeting of the Electoral College in Congress on Dec. 12.

There are 538 electors in the college, distributed based on the state’s population with a minimum of three delegates per state. Current delegate projections give Trump 306 votes and Clinton 228 votes out of the total delegates, with a 270 vote majority required to win, even though Clinton won the popular vote by a projected 1-2 million votes.

In the meeting of the electoral college, each delegate selected by their state’s winning party will cast their ballot for President and Vice-President. Even though the electors pledge to vote for the winner of their state’s election, they are only legally bound to do so in some states.

Some people are now calling for the electoral college to be abolished and for the country to make the popular vote decide the presidency instead of the electoral college. They view the system as unnecessary and undemocratic.

The electoral college has been in place since the founding of the United States because of the logistics of voting in the 1700s. Every state would organize elections and the people would choose their candidate — and therefore their delegates. The electoral college delegates would then go to Washington to vote on behalf of the people.

The electoral college exists because running an election of that scale was impractical for the time. It also allowed news to be taken into account, as word traveled slow before television and online news. The electoral college delegates are selected to act on the best behalf of the people that selected them in the election.

There is still a chance that Clinton can win the presidency if she can sway 40 Republican delegates to vote for her instead, but don’t get your hopes up. Only 108 electors in the entirety of American history have cast their ballots for the candidate that did not win their state’s election. An upset for Clinton is unprecedented and nearly impossible.

Even though the 2016 presidential election may seem like a done deal, and likely is, the real election is still yet to occur.

Evan McMullin. Odds are you haven’t heard of him before. On Aug. 8, McMullin announced he would run for president as an Independent candidate backed by the Better For America super PAC. He claims to be, in his own words, “a real conservative” and an alternative to Republican candidate Donald Trump. A former CIA operative from Utah, McMullin is currently polling at 30 percent in his home state. For context, current leader in Utah Donald Trump has approximately 32 percent in polls, and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has 24 percent support, putting McMullin within the margin of error of the poll.

McMullin is a devout Mormon and has stolen support from Trump with the assistance of 2012 Republican nominee Mitt Romney. Romney is a fellow Mormon who is very popular in the state. McMullin’s policies are socially and economically conservative.

Abortion:

McMullin is pro-life and believes that the Roe v. Wade decision should be repealed. Roe v. Wade guarantees the right for women to have abortions, and leaves abortion regulation to the state legislatures.

LGBTQ Rights:

McMullin personally is against the 2015 Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage, but respects the decision. On the trail, McMullin said that the country should “move on”.

Foreign Policy:

McMullin is very critical of the Iran Nuclear Deal. He said “”We’ve got to certainly enforce the deal as it is, but I believe in strengthening sanctions on Iran to force them to make further concessions. I also believe in putting the military option clearly back on the table if Iran decides to not keep its end of the deal and if it ultimately decides to pursue nuclear weapons.” He believes that the United States should do more to prevent “Assad’s slaughter of innocent Syrians” in the ongoing Syrian Civil War. He also denounced Trump’s accusations against Muslims and his “allegiance to Russia”.

What this means for the election as a whole is that Utah might be out of the game for both Trump and Clinton. This will likely help Clinton much more than it will help Trump. If McMullin was not running for president, Trump would be expected to take Utah. If McMullin does win the state, that is six fewer electoral votes for the Republican nominee. While third party candidates may not have a chance to be elected president, they can affect the election. Evan McMullin has proved this, and is acknowledged as a real opponent for Utah’s six electoral votes.

For more information on McMullin’s policies, visit <ontheissues.org/Evan_McMullin.htm>

This election season, two candidates represent the minor parties of the country alongside Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The Libertarian Party selected New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson as candidate, while physician Jill Stein will run as part of the Green Party. This election, these alternatives are getting extra attention due to the record disapproval ratings for both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

The problem with this year’s third party candidates is that both would make terrible presidents. Even by putting their names on the ballot, they are drawing votes away from the main candidates, eliminating an effective lead for anyone. This means that in most states, a vote for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein is a vote for Donald Trump.

Since the creation of the modern two-party political system, a third party candidate has never won the election. The closest a third party has come to the presidency is Ross Perot in 1992, who at one point held 30 percent national support in polls, but did not receive any votes in the Electoral College. Voting for Johnson or Stein is just as effective as writing in your cat for president. When voting this November, choose either Trump or Clinton; choosing anyone else is effectively throwing your constitutional right to vote out the window.

However, the reason that these two candidates are so bad is not that simple. On the surface, Johnson and Stein seem like perfect candidates: Johnson, the perfect mix between conservative economics and liberal social policies, Stein, the bastion of the far left. The truth is a little more convoluted. Let’s start with former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson.

Gary Johnson was first elected to Governor of New Mexico in 1995, and served at that post until 2003, as a Republican. He was also the Libertarian nominee in the 2012 election. Johnson is a firm believer in small government and limited international intervention. This isolationist foreign policy has caused many problems for Johnson. In an MSNBC interview with Mike Barnicle, Johnson, after being asked about the Syrian Civil War and refugee crisis, responded with, “What is Aleppo?” Aleppo is Syria’s largest city (according to pre-civil war statistics), and is the epicenter of violence and the main home to Syrian refugees. This represents Johnson’s ineptitude on foreign policy. Weeks after this memory lapse, Johnson made another gaffe at a town hall debate. When asked which foreign leaders he looked up to, Johnson could not name a single one. He then mentioned “the former president of Mexico,” who he also could not name.

After these two mistakes within only a few weeks, Johnson addressed the issue at a University of Chicago rally: “Because you can dot i’s and cross the t’s on names of foreign leaders and geographic locations, then that qualifies you to put the military in a situation where the military is dying? We’ve got military personnel that are dying.” Johnson’s ineptitude in foreign relations, one of the most important responsibilities of presidency, proves that he is not ready for the office and, if elected, he would be a very unsuccessful president.

“

(Wifi is) a danger to our children.”

— Jill Stein

Green Party nominee Jill Stein as president, would be immensely worse. She has no grasp on reality and her policies would only work in a perfectionist, idealist society. Over time, the Green Party has gained a reputation as a group of “leftist hippies,” and in some ways the moniker seems justified. Fittingly, Stein’s most extensive policy is on the environment and global warming. If elected, she promises to turn the country in the direction of renewable energy, and believes that the United States can go 100 percent renewable by 2030. She also wants to stop all nuclear energy production, which is currently the largest non-fossil fuel source of energy in the country, accounting for ten percent of national energy production. The problem with this policy, beyond the fact that it is just not feasible with the current economy, is that nuclear energy is the best clean energy source currently available.

“

What is Aleppo?”

— Gary Johnson

The current economic situation, with entire regions of the country completely reliant on the coal industry, would make 100% renewable energy very bad for certain parts of the country. Another problem is the transition; moving to renewable energy would require massive subsidies from the government because the math is plain and simple: coal is cheaper. These subsidies, which already exist and are one of the largest expenditures in energy spending, would just put the country into more debt. Her idealistic theories extend far beyond energy methods. Stein also supports “alternative therapies” and other pseudo-sciences such as homeopathy and naturopathy, both of which have no scientific basis and are viewed as the conspiracy theories of medicine. She even believes that wi-fi is a “danger to our children.” Stein, as a Harvard-educated physician, should know better than to support these ‘sciences’. It’s simple: Jill Stein is a cranky old lady who does not understand technology, economics or politics. She should not be allowed within 100 meters of the Oval Office.

Both of these candidates would be terrible presidents, and I hope that I have encouraged you to believe that as well. So, the question now is; who should you vote for if not Johnson or Stein? Hillary Clinton. You may not like her, but she is the most experienced presidential candidate in American history and her policies would make America a better country. Most of Johnson’s and Stein’s voters consider themselves more liberal than conservative, so the choice is clear. A vote for Johnson or Stein is a vote taken away from Hillary Clinton, and therefore a vote for Donald Trump, the very man that most want to keep away from the White House in the first place.

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are not the only people running for president this election. Aside from the over 1300 declarations of candidacy dismissed as fraudulent by the Federal Election Commission, two other main candidates are also vying for the top spot in the nation. The two candidates are the Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson and the Green Party’s Jill Stein. Both have received substantial support, with Johnson receiving 7% and Stein 2% of the votes in the most recent national polls. To give perspective, 7% of the United States population according to the 2010 census is about 22.3 million people; that is three and a half New York Cities of people. Johnson has received the most support and has shown interest in participating in the presidential debates alongside the two major-party candidates. If he reaches 15% support in national polls, he would be eligible for the next presidential debate, becoming the first third party candidate to do so since Ross Perot in 1992. For voters, this election is a choice between the lesser of two evils; other choices like Johnson and Stein could be a release from standard politics. This has made third party candidates more important in this election than they have been in quite a few years. Johnson in particular is getting more attention than other third party candidates before him, and some believe that he does have a chance to win this election. The most important thing to remember with third party candidates is the differences in policy. Johnson and Stein do not fall under the traditional labels of liberal or conservative, so it is important to look at key differences between each other, as well as between them and Clinton and Trump.

Abortion:

Johnson is pro-choice, but believes that the government should have no role in funding abortions. He believes that Planned Parenthood is an important institution, but should not receive funding for abortions, and is against federally-funded stem cell research. Many believe that stem cells should not be tested on and that testing on stem cells equates to testing on humans without consent.

Stein is fully pro-choice and believes that the government should fulfill its duty and protect a woman’s choice on pregnancy. She supports Planned Parenthood and stem cell research.

Environment:

Johnson believes that clean air is important, but ‘cap and trade’ policy to limit CO2 emissions is bad for the economy (Read more on cap and trade here). He supports state-led efforts to clean mines and other contaminated land, but thinks that it is not the federal government’s job to organize or fund it.

Stein believes in a massive 200 million dollar investment into green jobs, that production and sale GMO foods should be stopped and that the environment is one of the nation’s most important issues. She is a main proponent for increased funding for the Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA, and their capabilities.

Foreign Policy:

Johnson has an extreme isolationist policy. He believes that the United States should stay out of international situations like Ukraine, and that we should take Syrian refugees in small amounts.

Stein takes a different stance on these issues. She believes in changing the United States’ diplomatic situation from military to diplomatic, and working with nations worldwide to decrease conflict, while also cutting funding to many nations, such as Israel.

Gun Control:

Johnson believes that more people should have guns and there should be less restriction on ownership. He also believes in keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.

Stein believes that guns should be kept out of the hands of many. She supports Australia’s gun ban and believes that fewer guns means less crime.

Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are not just baggage-free versions of Trump and Clinton; both come with their own ideas, beliefs and issues. For these candidates, the path to presidency is very steep. The two candidate’s biggest impact on this election is who they draw votes away from, as they can lower the polling numbers from the other two main candidates, and therefore their election results as well. We will just have to wait and see what comes from these two candidates.

Presidential elections only come once every four years, but it seems like the election itself takes an entire year off the cycle. The first whiffs of an election on the way were in the spring of 2015, a full year and a half before voters would reach the polls. News channels buzzed with possible candidates, from Hillary Clinton to Joe Biden, or Jeb Bush to Bobby Jindal; there were a total of 19 major candidates for both sides once everything was set and done. There were five democratic candidates, and 15 republicans, from every corner of the country. The big players were Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for the Democratic Party and Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump for the Republican Party. There were more candidates in this election than ever before, with comedian Stephen Colbert even doing a parody of the Hunger Games, the “Hungry for Power Games,” making a Hunger Games style announcement for the “fallen” candidates once each eventually suspended their campaigns.

So how does our election system work? There are two parts to a presidential election cycle: the primaries and the general election. The primaries are when voters pick who they want to be their party’s candidate, and the general is the main election between those two candidates and any third party nominees. Each state has a different way of doing the primaries but there are generally two systems; the primary system and the caucus system. The primary system is just like the general election; people go to their local voting booths and cast their ballots for the desired candidates and the one with the most votes wins. The caucus system, however, is a little more complicated. Iowa, Nevada, Minnesota, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Idaho, Kansas, Wyoming, Alaska, Washington, Florida and North Dakota use the caucus system. It is a relatively complicated system; at a designated time, all voters in a district show up in a location and stand in a group to designate their support for a candidate. Whichever candidate has the largest group wins the district. The confusion between these systems only adds to the complication required to vote and results in lower voter turnouts nationwide.

Ever since day one, Donald Trump has had tough policies on immigration. After gliding down his escalator to the podium in Trump Tower for his announcement speech, “The Donald” made his stance on Mexican immigration clear: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best … They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with them. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists and some, I assume, are good people.” This statement from his announcement speech sent ripples through the political community, with pundits from NBC to Comedy Central giving their attention to the real estate mogul turned reality TV host. This attention never went away for Trump, with some saying that the attention from the media directed voters’ attention, and therefore their votes, to him. As time went on, Trump’s policies and statements got more and more controversial. He once called out Fox News host Megyn Kelly for her “hostile” questioning during a debate, saying that she had “blood coming out of her wherever,” angering female voters. Later in the election cycle, he called fellow candidate Carly Fiorina ugly, saying “Look at that face. Would anyone vote for that?” again angering the female demographic that is increasingly siding with Clinton over the course of the campaign, with 57% of voters saying he is biased against them in a recent Washington Post/ABC News Poll released Sept. 10. In June, Trump made statements against the judge presiding over his Trump University case, saying that because of the judge’s Mexican heritage, he is unable to be fair in his ruling. The case has now moved to Federal Court following an appeal by Trump. On August 10, Trump at a Florida campaign rally called President Obama “the founder of ISIS. He’s the founder of ISIS. He’s the founder. He founded ISIS.” This claim has even been reputed by fellow Republicans, with many major Republican figures coming out against him. A Washington Post article listed the current number to at least 110 people so far, with some members of his former staff now coming out against him. These people are current or former Republican members of government, political figures or campaign figures who have said either that they will not vote for Trump, or that they will vote for Clinton, and that number is only the people who have announced this publicly.

Even though Trump has been stuck in scandal throughout his campaign, Clinton has not escaped either. In the early days of the campaign, Republicans brought back the Benghazi scandal. On Sept. 11, 2012, militants in Benghazi, Libya, assaulted and took over two U.S. diplomatic compounds, killing four americans, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya. Clinton was brought before Congress for an investigation over the summer, but it was determined that there was not enough evidence to indict her on any crime. Over the summer, the Democratic National Committee email system was hacked by an unknown source, suspected to be government-funded Russian hackers. The leaked emails nearly confirmed many voters’ suspicions that the elections were at least partially rigged toward Clinton by the DNC itself. In response to this, the DNC chair and Florida congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz stepped down, just days before their convention began, again calling into question Clinton’s honesty and trustworthiness, as well as her party’s.

This news especially angered supporters of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, the self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist who narrowly lost the nomination. Even though he lost, Sanders’ influence did not stop at the end of the convention. Throughout his campaign, Sanders’ liberal policies and wide support forced Clinton to move her own policies farther left. She changed position on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade bill that would make it easier for jobs to go overseas, and also started supporting free community college for poor citizens, as well as at least enticing the idea of a single-payer healthcare system nationwide, an issue that was central in Sanders’ campaign.

In the week before their respective conventions, both Clinton and Trump announced their running mates. Clinton chose former Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, who has wide popularity in his state. Clinton hopes to broaden her influence with the important Latino voting demographic, as Kaine is also fluent in Spanish and is a former lawyer, famous for representing minorities in discrimination cases pro bono. Trump’s choice for vice president is Indiana Governor Mike Pence. Pence has a meager 49% approval rating in the state in the most recent polls from early this year, but closely represents many of Trump’s isolationist values. Pence opposes abortion and birthright citizenship, is a Tea Party supporter and also has experience as a lawyer, like Kaine.

Throughout the campaign, Donald Trump’s campaign managers have echoed his attitude and energy. His first campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was removed from the campaign after attacking Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields during a Trump rally in March. The assault charges were eventually dropped and Lewandowski was charged with battery. Lewandowski now works for CNN as a political commentator and as an advisor to Trump’s campaign. His replacement, Paul Manafort, was also caught in controversy as leaks exposed his connection with Ukraine’s ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, with Manafort receiving millions from Yanukovych’s party, which has substantial ties to Russia. After the story broke in early August,

he was removed from the campaign. This scandal has brought up many questions about Trump’s loyalty to America and his ties to Russia, with Manafort also linked to the Panama Papers scandal last year. His new campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, has spent her first weeks on the campaign trying to solidify Trump’s policies and increase his diplomatic visibility in preparation for the upcoming debate against Hillary Clinton.

However, Clinton and Trump are not the only candidates for president. There are two other candidates this election, the Green Party’s Jill Stein and the Libertarian Party’s Gary Johnson. Johnson received 10% support in a recent New York Times poll, the best for any third party candidate since Ross Perot in 1992, who held 18% at his peak, even leading Bill Clinton and George Bush in certain states. Johnson is pushing to reach 15% support in national poll; once he reaches that number he will be included in presidential debates and would be the first since Perot to do so.

Both major candidates in the election have had their fair share of scandals, and it has affected their poll results. Trump has a record 63% unpopularity to Clinton’s 56%, according to an ABC/Washington Post poll released Aug. 28. The Dallas Morning News recently came out against Trump and for Clinton. This is a little more significant than it may seem; The Dallas Morning News has supported every single republican presidential candidate since Richard Nixon in 1968, representing the bridges being burned by Trump. This election is seen as a “lesser of two evils” situation by many, with the country losing no matter what candidate is elected. The first presidential debate is scheduled for Sept. 26, marking the first major meeting between the two candidates. Clinton has been ducking the media for months, not holding a press conference for over 250 days, and this debate will attempt to clarify her policies and the differences between the two candidates. Much is bound to happen between now and November, but what is certain is that this election will get much more exciting.

This summer has been big for the elections; huge, in fact. After the candidates locked up their nominations in May each party held their conventions.

The Republican National Convention (RNC) in Cleveland, Ohio focused on the future, but the future described was not bright, due to the country’s democratic leadership and the world political situation. The speakers described radical Islam and random acts of terrorism worldwide as main issues.

Donald Trump, a self-described billionaire, real estate mogul and the Republican nominee, echoed this point with a powerful speech on the last night of the convention.

He gave a clear message: “The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon come to an end. Beginning on Jan. 20, 2017, safety will be restored.” Trump stated that he is the only person that can lead this country and ‘Make America Great Again,’ sparking worries from both sides of the political spectrum, with many comparing him to an authoritarian dictator.

On the other side of politics, former Secretary of State and Senator of New York, Hillary Clinton accepted her nomination at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Philadelphia, beating out Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, though the message from the DNC was very different from that of the RNC. The speakers gave input on a number of policies from LGBT+ rights to student debt and made sure to bring home their point that America is already great and a Democratic leadership will only make it greater.

Since their June conventions both candidates have been embroiled in controversy. Clinton is still reeling from her email scandal – she kept all of her emails on a private server during her term as Secretary of State. This has caused many Republicans and some of her fellow Democrats to question her honesty and trustworthiness. Clinton went to a hearing in front of Congress and was not charged based on the FBI’s recommendation.

Trump also had his fair share of scandals. He has continued to make arguments for his strong policy on Muslim and Mexican immigration – still wanting to deport all 11.4 million illegal immigrants and build a wall between the United States and Mexico. Trump also proposed removing all Muslim-Americans from the country solely because of their religion.

Because of these policies, the Republican party has lost points in the polls with minority voters, especially Latinos and African Americans.

Current polls have Clinton winning by merely two points on average across four polls released Sept. 6, with the Princeton Election Consortium giving Clinton a 95% chance to win the presidency.