Why You Shouldn't Vote for Kanye West

​By: Isabella Astuto

On July 4, 2020, rapper Kanye West announced that he would be running for US president. This announcement has sparked many discussions, with most not taking him seriously, for good reason. However, with widespread hesitation surrounding both the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, and the Republican candidate, President Donald Trump, many are drawn to the idea of voting third party. However, there are many reasons why that’s not a good idea. 

First, Kanye West is not at all a serious candidate. In Texas, Indiana, New Mexico, and North Carolina it is too late to register as an independent candidate. These are only four of the 50 states, but Texas is a very important state to win, and registration dates for other states may soon pass as well. It is also common knowledge that West is a fan of Trump’s, so many have speculated that this simply a ploy to just take votes away from Biden.

Secondly, the chances for any third party candidate to win have always been, and still are, slim to none. Back in 1996, one of the most famous third party candidates, Ralph Nader, was running. He was very anti the two party system, going so far as to openly mock the major candidates. He was very popular amongst the underground, alternative culture, which was growing in popularity in the ‘90s. However, he did not win. Not by a long shot. 

That is because the US government runs on a two party system. As unfortunate as that is, because not everyone fits into those two parties, and the majority don’t align with every single belief that party or their candidate holds, it is the way things are. All of your friends or the majority of social media that you interact with might agree to vote third party, but that’s a much smaller group of people than you think it is. So when the Electoral College goes to vote and looks at what the majority says, all you and your friends have done is decrease the amount of votes a candidate who could actually win has, possibly causing them to lose. 

Think about it this way- to change a system, you must first work within it. If you don’t like the two party system, choose which candidate has more policies you like, no matter how few policies that may be. If you pick that candidate, the government as a whole will start to learn further to the left or right, meaning there will be a higher chance that in the future, a candidate who you fully support will be able to plausibly run. 

While we have the opportunity to vote for whomever we want as President, the candidates who actually have a chance at winning may not be favorable to you, because life isn’t fair. And if you want changes to actually be made, you have to be willing to compromise and cooperate instead of throwing away your vote as a joke or Hail Mary. ​