Had a ride to the center of the island today, so I did some more reading on the Democratic candidates. I’ve also been learning more of the campaign zeitgeist via podcast on recent flights.

It’s always hard to know what to think. If you read an article championing one candidate and demonizing another, the next one you read will argue just the opposite. Every candidate’s website is a hard sell—they build up a dream in your mind. If you align with that candidate’s policies, it becomes extremely enticing; but is it possible?

As I was browsing Warren’s and Sanders’ websites, I realized half the country (or at least tens of millions of people) would despise such rhetoric. They would feel the way I do when I read Trump’s statements.

So it comes back to the voting question: do you vote for the candidate of your dreams, the one you believe can truly shape the country into the utopia you envision? Or do you vote pragmatically, for the figure head you believe can win the election and achieve some compromise in Washington you can live with? (With the underlying presumption, of course, that you will exercise your civic duty to vote.)

It doesn’t look like there’s any answer. As I’ve previously mentioned, I will be voting according to climate change policy because I believe it is the single greatest threat to our existence in the history of our species. But it’s also time to look at our political system and our election process. As citizens, we need to tackle the voting question in order to solve our other problems.