With the tumultuous campaigns of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton coming to a close, many Americans are still trying to determine who deserves their vote. Over the past year, Trump and Clinton have divided the country with inflammatory rhetoric, leading to one of the most dramatic elections in recent memory. The media attention surrounding this election has been unparalleled, and passions have reached a fever pitch. The Talon strongly recommends Hillary Clinton for president.

While Clinton has many flaws, Donald Trump is clearly a less viable choice. Trump does not have the temperament to represent the interests of the American public, and in a time of political unrest across the world, a steady and controlled approach is the only option.

Clinton focuses on policies built for the people, including more accessible healthcare and more funding for educational reform. As a champion for the middle and working class, she supports more than 90 percent of the population, a drastic contrast to Trump, who we believe has alienated the majority of Americans.

While Trump is a TV personality and an entrepreneur whose portfolio contains a number of failed businesses, Clinton possesses the necessary political experience to take over the reins as Commander-in-Chief. She has been the First Lady (1993-2001), a U.S. Senator (2001-2009), and Secretary of State (2009-2013). While many criticize Clinton’s handling of foreign relations during her tenure as Secretary of State, she has made strides to attain peace in the Middle East. She negotiated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and invoked the harshest sanctions Iran has ever faced.

Trump has continually made brash comments in his campaign that have proven that he is an unstable character who is simply unfit to be president. At a rally in February, Trump said “knock the crap out of them, would you? Seriously. OK? Just knock the hell out–I promise you, I will pay the legal fees,” in response to a protester. This unprofessional remark (along with countless other examples) should be seen as a warning sign. He attempted to incite violence amongst his constituents, something that seems unbelievable, but with Trump, anything is possible. Trump’s instability can also be noted in his infamous rant against Mexicans during his presidential bid in June 2015. Regarding Mexicans, he said “they’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” His use of harmful and inaccurate generalizations like these in a country of more than 56.5 million Hispanic-Americans, many of whom are from Mexico, show that Trump would most likely not be able to restrain himself concerning a myriad of other issues.

Not only does Trump insult different groups of people (in addition to Mexicans, he has attacked groups of people including Muslims, women, reporters, and people with disabilities), he is a notorious liar.

His supporters will bring up Clinton’s email scandal, but they fail to note Trump’s apparent inability to tell the truth even when faced with incontrovertible facts. Politifact, an independent fact checker, found that Trump has lied far more than Clinton while on the campaign trail. His lies are defended by the notion that he just “speaks his mind,” when in reality, he simply panders to his audience, knowing that they will not fact-check his claims. In the midst of his frequent Twitter rants (another great indicator of his unstable temperament), he constantly praises polls that show him winning, but when he is portrayed as losing, they are said to be “rigged.”

The flaws that Clinton detractors point out are magnified exponentially in Trump. Clinton is the better option to lead the people to a prosperous America because she believes in this country. Trump, on the other hand, dubs nearly everything as a “disaster,” and believes that he alone can fix things. This kind of arrogance is not the way forward. With her wealth of experience and even temper, Hillary Clinton deserves your vote.

Talon Editorial Board Vote: Clinton – 13 Trump – 7