What The US Election Seems Like To A UK Resident

A tale about how young adults in the UK feel about the US Election from an across the pond perspective.

First let me tell you a little bit about myself.

I am an 18-year-old white man living in the Bristol area and therefore just missed out on voting in the UK election last year despite learning a lot about it through the use of social media. Now more than ever, teenagers have access to all the information about the election without being able to be involved in it.

My experience with voting.

Alma

I do see a lot of opinions nowadays about the age to be able to vote being lowered a few years, allowing more young people to vote, which does make sense if the person is well-educated on the issues involved and in this modern climate where they have access to these issues more easily it does make sense to allow youngsters to vote. But the age of election is stuck at 18 so that people able to vote can form insightful opinions for their choice and not just vote for whoever they feel like on the day. I am very excited to voice my opinion in the EU referendum this coming June.

GETTY / Via gettyimages.co.uk

This feeling of knowing everything but not being able to vote is replicated in my understanding of the US election for President. My access to internet and constant activity on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr give me a direct look into the world of US politics without even having to actively seek it out. News outfits such as Buzzfeed and many others are easily accessible on twitter, even if I don’t follow them in particular, they are seen through retweets and recommended tweets so are constantly interacted with. I have come across the below tweets by simply scrolling through my timeline and seeing people retweet them or be recommended to me by twitters algorithms for some reason.

BuzzFeed Politics @BuzzFeedPol

Trump's California Drought Plan: "We're Going To Start Opening Up The Water" https://t.co/PF1LQra7AE

09:43 PM - 27 May 2016

ABC News @ABC

Donald Trump encourages Marco Rubio to run for re-election for his Florida senate seat. https://t.co/V1iRm4B3bM

07:09 PM - 27 May 2016

From a UK perspective, the US election almost seems like a parody of itself. I am constantly bombarded by the latest news of what weird thing Donald Trump has done now or what weird meme pops out of it. The theories of Ted Cruz being the Zodiac Killer and Hillary Clinton's strange vines seem hilarious from an outsiders perspective but do provide a worrying glimpse into the world of American politics.

UK politics doesn't focus on being gimmicky and trying to create these relatable issues like Clinton's attempts to be 'down with the kids' that just seem to be trying too hard to desperately grab the Millennial vote and memes such as Cruz as the Zodiac Killer just seek to tell me that even US citizens notice the parody that the election is creating.

The desperation to appear 'down with the kids' is tragic.

vine.co

A very technical Trump speech caught online.

vine.co

From this outside perspective, the candidates just seem to have no idea whats going on and even beg the question 'are any of them even good for America?'. One troubling thing element I see is Donald Trump's popularity in the polls, who I first thought was running for a joke. But that joke has gone on a little too long now. Some of the promises he makes just make no sense or are downright wrong and his supporters are troubling as well.

Some of their reasons for wanting to follow Trump's plan to build a wall around Mexico don't even make sense.

Matt Stopera

Matt Stopera

Should the vote really be trusted to people who can't even formulate strong opinions? The US election doesn't necessarily directly effect the UK, but does anybody want to see a world leader who seems downright racist at times?

My opinion on this strange situation across the Atlantic rests in the candidates absurd nature, who almost seem to be caricatures of politicians, written by a comedian on Saturday Night Live to pull some cheap laughs. Do we really want to see any of these characters as President of the United States?