Most likely every time you turn on the news you will here about the presidential candidates and their race for the White House. There will be jibes about Donald Trump and you will be encouraged to “Feel the Bern” in support of Bernie Sanders. But perhaps most prominently, you will hear about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her ongoing email controversy.

Clinton was first accused in March of sending emails from a private email account, instead of the one she was mandated to use by the federal government while she was the United States Secretary of State.

I am someone who believes Clinton should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law if it is necessary to do so and that this issue needs to come to a conclusion soon. It is drawing attention solely to Clinton, when in reality American people should be paying attention to all presidential candidates.

From the beginning, Clinton supporters have believed that the Benghazi trials were a ploy by the Republican Party to lower Clinton’s polling numbers.

Emily Witt, co-president of the Cal Lutheran Feminism Is club, stands behind this idea, stating that the GOP is purposefully going after Clinton.

“The trials are the GOP’s self-admitted way of damaging Hillary Clinton’s reputation and hurting her chances at the Presidency,” Witt said.  

If anything, the trials are only helping Clinton in the eyes of her party.

According to an article published on cnn.com one day after the trial, Clinton’s party could not be happier with her performance.

“The morning after the hearing, Clinton HQ was ‘ecstatic,’ according to one source, a Clinton campaign aide who added ‘that was a president sitting there,’” the article stated.

With America gearing up for what could be one of its most important presidential elections yet, the country deserves to have candidates who have won their nomination because they have run on sound policies, not because they were able to fight off attacks from rival parties about emails.

Witt said she believes that if Clinton wins the Democratic ticket, when it comes down to the moment of voting Americans will not put much thought into the email controversy.

“The voters should think about this issue as it pertains to Clinton’s foreign policy. However they must look at the entire picture and understand the actual events before coming to a final conclusion. Realistically when Election Day comes around, voters will most likely not think about this issue,” Witt said.

I agree with Witt. If it is Clinton versus the Republican ticket, most likely Democratic voters will not think of the emails or the trial as they vote for their party’s candidate. 

The question now becomes: What should be done moving forward on this issue?

In my opinion, Bernie Sanders said it best during the Democratic debate when he said, “Let me say something that may not be great politics, but the secretary is right. The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.”

The American people deserve a presidential race that focuses on all the issues, not just how Clinton handled her business as Secretary of State. If Clinton is found guilty in any way, I have faith that she will be put in prison for her crimes.

In the meantime I think the American people have to take what she says at face value and let justice be handled.

According to a recap of the Democratic debate on mic.com, Clinton said she has complied the best she knows how to resolve these issues.

“Well, I’ve taken responsibility for it. I did say it was a mistake, what I did was allowed by the State Department but it wasn’t the best choice,” Clinton said in response to a question from moderator Anderson Cooper. “And I’ve been as transparent as I know to be, turning over 55,000 pages of emails, asking that they be made public.” Clinton said.

As time goes on the truth will come out and Clinton will be held lawfully accountable for her actions if it is deemed necessary.

Until that moment comes, I hope America stays informed on the other issues as well.

As a result, I hope we elect the best two possible candidates for the presidential primary race next year.

Hailey Klemenok
Staff Writer
Published November 4th, 2015