My American Citizen's Interview

Name: Jeffery Williams

Age: 74

Occupation: Environmentalist, retired journalist

What matters to you in the upcoming election? Climate Change

How many electoral votes is the state you live in worth? 55

How does your state usually vote? Democrat

Who do you plan to vote for? Joe Biden

Could you be presdident yourself one day? Yes

Power points! How powerful do think your vote is? Put an X on the scale.

Not Powerful----------------------------------------X---------Very Powerful

The Interview

Can you tell me a bit about yourself?

Hello, my name is Jeffery Williams, and I'm an environmentalist living in California. I have lived here for the whole of my 74 years, and I once had a career in journalism. At the moment, I'm quite worried about climate change as I myself have seen the world changing. Subsequently, I have worked hard with my son, who's an engineer, to create various devices that can help slow down the rate that our climate is heating.

How do you feel about tomorrow's election?

I feel rather confident with tomorrow's election. Personally, I am voting for Joe Biden. In my opinion, he's quite popular and has performed better than Donald Trump. Based on the first debate, which was chaotic, I think that Donald Trump did not act like a true president - interrupting and mocking Joe Biden for wearing a mask, despite him just wanting to be safe from the coronavirus. This, I think, will dissuade people from voting for the current president. Donald Trump said that he was going to "make America great again," which in my perspective, he hasn't. In addition, Joe Biden wants to ensure that he U.S. achieves a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions no later than 2050, and Biden’s climate and environmental justice proposal will make a federal investment of $1.7 trillion over the next ten years, leveraging additional private sector and state and local investments to total to more than $5 trillion. As an envirnmentalist, I think that this is very important.

Why should people vote tomorrow?

I think that people should vote because they could completely change the outcome of the election, even if they think that their one vote is worthless. This is because one candidate could win by one vote, and your vote could change that. You are also doing it to help yourself and others as this candidate will determine the fate of the USA, including you. You are doing it because YOU think this peron will help mould your country into the best it can be.

How powerful do you think your vote is?

I believe that my vote is powerful because my state is worth the highest number of electoral points of all. One candidate acted carelessly in the face of the pandemic, and actively spread misinformation whereas the other proposes to invest much more money into healthcare, as well as being cautious about the virus. This is why I lean more to Joe Biden. Furthermore, Californians fortunately tend to vote for Democrats.

Can you explain why some people might not vote?

In my opinion, some people may not vote because they may not like any of the candidates. In this case, I feel they should vote for the person they least dislike. They may also be under 18, so they would definitely not be allowed to vote. Also, they may feel that they don't mind who becomes president, so they don't need to vote. They may think that their vote wouldn't matter as their state has very little electoral points.

What about the presidency? Would you ever run for president? Why?

I would run for president because I am sure that I have some great ideas brewing in my mature mind, and I also have experience in speaking out and listening to the people, as these are skills that you need to possess to become a succesful journalist. I think that I will make education and healthcare better, so the country can be safe and well educated. Most importantly to me, I would make more things be done to help stop the rapid acceleration of climate change, so my grandchildren and great-grandchildren don't have to live in a world where nearly every animal is in captivity. I feel like I should take the resposibility due to me having lots of children and grandchildren to take care of.

Finally, how do you feel about the voting system in America?

I think that the democratic stystem is quite confusing and unfair for some people, but as I've lived through many elections, I know how it works. It is confusing because even if one candidate gets more votes, they could lose in terms of electoral points. It is unfair because even if they lose in one state by one vote, they would get none of the points. An example of this is when Hillary Clinton got roughly 3 million more votes in the popularity vote against Donald Trump, but lost by about 70 votes in the electoral college vote.

Thank you for having me.

Thank you for reading my post,

eager_reflection