One of the most defining qualities of America is the democracy that it runs on. America runs on the people choosing the government and who is in charge of the government. With that, political tension on both sides has risen to an all-time high with the 2020 election just months away. But the definition of a democrat and a republican has been lost in the countless names and stereotypes that come from both sides. Overall, to fully understand why it is necessary for all young adults and voters to create their own opinion on an issue; which are not based on what their family, friends, news stations or even political party may say. It is necessary to understand what the political parties really are and what they really stand for and why it is necessary to look at everything without bias. 

The Democratic and Republican parties have become loosely based on stereotypes instead of facts and reasoning. Such as all Republicans being racist, against all types of government programs and overall is profoundly behind capitalism. While according to diffen.com, Republicans do lean more towards a free market and are against government regulations against the economy. Republicans are also typically against certain immigration stances and amnesty. Amnesty is an official pardon for people who have been convicted of past political offenses, stated by Oxford University Dictionary. While democrats are stereotypically thought to want to lower taxes and raise minimum wages, they are also thought to want the government to pay for everything with government-mandated programs and lastly they are very pro-immigration and want to grant amnesty for all immigrants. 

It is also another stereotype that the common person is either Democratic and Republican. While in fact in a study done by Pew Research Center in 2017, it found that 33% identified as democrats, 26% identified as republicans and 37% identified as independents. Independents are voters who do not vote just for the political party. They vote for the candidate that most closely aligns with their point of view. 

Finally, one of the main reasons why these stereotypes have started to rise and why the gap between Republican and Democrat is rapidly widening. There are two main news broadcasting stations that cover national and international news: MSNBC and Fox News. All three of these stations are well known for what their journalists, news broadcasters and what the overall stations align themselves with politically. MSNBC is considered to be more left, while Fox News is considered to be to the right. According to Public Opinion Strategies.com Fox News watchers gave President Trump a 64% approve-34% disapprove rating compared to MSNBCs’  21% approve-78% disapproval rating. In the same survey, 53% of Republicans interviewed listened to Fox News while only 17% watched MSNBC. For Democrats, 23% watched Fox News and 62% watched MSNBC. And finally, for Independents, 18% watched Fox News and 17% watched MSNBC. Overall, the clear line between Republicans watching other Republicans talk about politics and Democrats watching other Democrats talk about politics is only helping widen the gap between the two parties.

Overall, the importance of a voter or soon-to-be voter to research and fully understand the topic that they are using their American right to vote on; is undeniably one of the most important factors of America’s democracy. If one is to just go off of what their friends or family told them or from what they heard from their one news station, it is not the full truth. It is the job of the American people to look past the stereotypes that have been created by both sides. And to not just look at an issue that may affect thousands upon thousands of people from just their point of view. It is the Americans peoples job to keep this the land of the free, the heard and where democracy runs free without the risk of stereotypes or clouded judgment.