The 2016 Election Can Be Perfectly Described By Stranger Things

Image Credits: Netflix, GIPHY

The 2016 election has certainly been unconventional, to say the very least. From 17 candidates in the Republican field to a self-proclaimed socialist and a criminal running for the Democrats, we have had our share of surprises. 2016 brought us this unbelievable, and sometimes extremely disheartening election.  It also brought another phenomenon: the Stranger Things obsession. Here is this election season, as told by Netflix’s Stranger Things.

It started out great, you were ready for change. The excitement was high.  You knew you wanted to put a Republican in the White House again.

Naturally, you begin following the candidates and researching their stances on the issues. Then, that one candidate catches your eye. Yeah, that’s the one. You start following him or her on Twitter, Instagram, and every social media page possible. This one has your vote locked in.

You watch every single debate, host debate watch parties, and deck out in every piece of FFL gear you own. While you’re watching the debates, however, you begin to realize that the candidates are saying some pretty ridiculous things: Trump attacks Jeb(!)’s energy levels and Bernie says climate change is the cause of terrorism. You make sure to #DebateWithFFL because this all makes for pretty great material to win a $50 gift card to the FFL store, but still cannot get past the crazy claims some of the candidates are making.

Then, your candidate starts falling in the polls. He or she is losing momentum, and some critical states are coming up you know your candidate just cannot win. You refuse to give up hope, but you have to cover your eyes to escape the inevitable.

The time has come. You’re still denying it, but we all know that heartbreaking disappointment: your candidate has dropped out of the race. You hear of his or her suspension, watch the concession speech, and proceed to pull one of these:

Then, your friends hear about your candidate’s drop out. Suddenly, your phone is blowing up with text messages that go a little something like this:

It takes a few weeks, maybe even several months, to get over the loss of your candidate. At that point, you’ve found out that Hillary Clinton has officially claimed the historic title of the first female nominee of a major United States political party.

And when your friend says that she can’t wait to cast her vote for Hillary Clinton so that America can have the first female president, you can only make this face:

The state of the race hits you: these are the selection of candidates. A man who just became a Republican a few short years ago and a woman who thinks she is above the law. The other candidates don’t interest you much, especially when they suggest inhabiting other planets to escape climate change or establishing a $15 minimum wage.

You decide to hole up in your room until 2020 to escape the flood of news about Hillary Clinton’s next scandal and Donald Trump’s latest policy flip-flop gracing your Twitter timeline.

But, at the end of the day, you remember that you are still are blessed to live in the greatest nation on earth, and you will fight to keep it free with people who love America as much as you do.