二月假期，淘气还做了一个社会学习功课——了解各候选人的政治主张。
照例，他一开始是不愿意做的。妈妈求助说，很快要投票了，Sanders和Clinton之间，还没打定主意呢，你帮我看看，总结总结？爸爸也说他登记的Independent，投票给谁都可以，这么多候选人，有点分不清个人主张有什么不同，需要帮助。淘气抿嘴微笑，挺着胸脯，接过这个重要任务。
周末，淘气交功课，同时热情地游说爸妈把票投给Sanders。原因是Sanders在有关非法移民，堕胎，枪支管制，税收等各个主题上，与他的观点和主张一致。他相信Sanders会带领美国建设出一个人人幸福的美好世界。
同时，他对Trump表示了强烈的厌恶。事实上，他不喜欢任何一个共和党人，觉得他们没有同情心。他的老师都提醒过妈妈，淘气的世界过于黑白分明，需要让他慢慢认识并接受各种灰色。
跟他解释了为什么屁股决定脑袋。事实证明淘气是个年轻热血的理想主义者。
爸爸说如果你有自己的生意，辛苦工作，挣了很多钱，国家要拿走90%，你会不会在意？他说只要拿去用在好的地方，他不在意。如果是拿去花在你不同意的地方呢？或者分给根本不愿意工作的人呢？你以后还会不会同样热情地工作？他迟疑了一下，坚持说只要帮助到需要的人，就是值得的。
妈妈开玩笑说illegal，就是不合法的意思。你那么讲究遵纪守法，怎么会支持不合法的人和事呢？这样对legal的那些人会不会不公平？淘气说他们是不得已。再问，如果有陌生人不请自来，跑到你家吃你的饭，睡你的床，拿你的东西，还说他和你有同样的权利，你会怎么做？这个冲击有点大，他挣扎着说，他们没有食物，没有地方去，需要帮助。
好吧，事实上，我们这些年已经慢慢倾向共和党了。按轮流执政，也该轮到共和党。可惜，今年共和党的候选人实在不给力。
发现无法影响爸妈的决定，淘气无师自通地想到阻止爸妈去投票：你们不用去投票啊，没有要求一定要投票，不要去！不要去！！
别急，这回不行，下回还不行，下下回，淘气就可以自己选总统了。
附：
2016 Presidential Election
Democrats:
Hillary Clinton aims to raise the wages of middle-class workers, and make college more affordable. She feels that it is wrong to punish illegal immigrants, and that all immigrants, legal or illegal, should have a chance to get United States citizenships. On the subject of abortion, Clinton says that politicians have no right to decide on a woman’s health and that the choice lies in the hands of the pregnant women. She shares views with other democrats in her opinions that gun safety rules should be enforced strictly to prevent deaths from firearms, and that wealthier people should pay more taxes than middle-class people because they simply have more money. Clinton strongly approves of the Affordable Care Act, which makes healthcare cheaper and better. She was met with strong opposition from Bernie Sanders. She narrowly won the Iowa Caucasus, becoming the first woman to do so. In the early New Hampshire primaries, she lost by a wide margin to Sanders. If she becomes the president, she will set a record as the first woman president in the history of the United States.
Bernie Sanders, like Clinton, is fine with letting immigrants and refugees live in the US, and giving them care and support so that they can live lives of safety and pleasure, not of fear. He feels that the choice about abortion lies in the pregnant women’s hands, not in the hands of politicians. Sanders says that in order to make America a safer nation, it is important to strengthen background checks, enforce gun safety laws, and ban dangerous weapons. He feels that in order to succeed as a nation, America must move towards a future of peace and diplomacy with other countries, away from one of bloodshed and wars, only using war as a last resort to emphasize a point clearly. Like most other democrats, he says that the rich, wealthy businesses that we all depend on must pay higher taxes, because he says that the rich can’t have all the money while the poor have nothing at all. Despite having quite a few similar opinions with Clinton, he is one of her strongest opponents.
Republicans:
Donald Trump feels that the United States is threatened by the war going on in the Middle-East, and that Muslim immigrants from the Middle-East are the ones to blame in America. Trump says emphatically that all illegal immigrants, such as those from Mexico, must not be made welcome in the US. His solution to stop it is by completely closing the border, making America impenetrable by all illegal incomers. He is pro-life and dislikes the concept of abortion immensely. Trump has a gun permit and thinks that the right to wear weapons should be extended to all fifty states, backing up his opinion by saying that everyone has a right to self-defense and referring to the Second Amendment. Trump deeply hates the Islamic State and says that it must be exterminated through war via bombings and US troops. Like other republicans, he wants lower taxes and opts for less government control in the economy.
Ted Cruz, like many other republicans, opts for lower taxes and regulating the flow of illegal immigrants. Cruz plans to stop illegal immigration by increasing and improving border surveillance and having tighter border checks. Like Trump, Cruz is pro-life, and disapproves of abortion because, in his opinion, every human life is essential to the world, and it simply isn’t right to kill unborn children. He defends the right to bear guns, and thinks everyone has a right to self-defense. Cruz thinks that the best foreign policy for America would be to defend allies and interests, and to judge the world through America. He wants taxes to be cut, just like Trump does.
Marco Rubio is unlike many other republican candidates, as he doesn’t feel that illegal immigrants should be deported to detention camps, although he doesn’t think they deserve citizenships, either. He is a devout opponent of abortion by the belief that all humans, unborn or otherwise, should be given a chance to live, and that abortion is no better than outright murder. Like other republicans, he opts for allowing guns, referencing the Second Amendment and saying that the deaths caused by shootings aren’t the guns’ faults. Rubio’s tax plan for America is to cut individual taxes and take away the added tax that rich people have to pay the government.
Chris Christie wants to seal America’s borders to illegal immigrants. Christie is pro-life like Trump, Cruz, and Rubio, saying that every life is a gift, and that made them very important. He is a supporter of the Second Amendment and says that everyone has a constitutional right to bear arms and to defend themselves. He feels that ISIS must be defeated, because they would stop at nothing to turn everyone in the world into a Muslim. Like other republicans, he doesn’t want taxes to be raised any higher than they are now.
