With the presidential race heating up, as it happens every four years, people are starting to get behind their candidates (at least in this race, very strongly against the opposing candidates). Most of my life I have been raised in a firmly independent household. We didn’t talk about politics much. When we did, my parents taught me something very important. They believe very strongly that you should vote more by candidate and not by party.
The problem with the party system isn’t that you are choosing to support that parties candidate.  I think the biggest issue as of this moment is the demonization of each others parties. Augustana is obviously a liberal campus, and there is nothing wrong with that. I personally have always had more liberal views on things, however, we are starting to hit a tipping point in our interactions with each party.
While there have been racist remarks made by the republican candidate, Donald Trump, that does not mean that every republican is a racist or hates immigrants. Hilary Clinton isn’t  perfect either. That doesn’t mean that the people who support her share all her views or support all the things they’ve done wrong in their life.
We tend to put these people on pedestals, and see that they have to do no wrong. I’m not saying don’t judge them on their actions, but don’t judge people by their candidate’s faults. Just because some people support a certain candidate does not mean they support everything they do, and it does not in any way mean they’re some horrible person.
I have class with a friend who is conservative, came from a conservative household, has conservative beliefs and is a wonderful person. However, my class is very liberal (as are most classes) and are outspokenly against Trump and a lot of conservative ideals. While I tend to agree with a lot of liberal views, I look at what it would be like in my friends shoes. Imagine being the one liberal in a room full of conservative people talking about their beliefs and trashing liberal ones. It would be awkward.
One thing I want to get across, if nothing else, is that when you demonize the other party you shut yourself off to listening to them. In life you need to be willing to listen to both sides of an argument, because they can have good ideas that you might not have considered. You can learn from one other, not just hate the others and think, “they’re all horrible people.”
I understand that you believe you are right, but in the end you have to remember that each side is just trying to help people in different ways. Try to understand where they are coming from fully before judging the parties and the people in them.