By Israel Ramirez |Staff Writer|

I do not think this presidential election is a joke.

Every four years, the Oval Office is up for grabs.

2016 presidential elections kicked off with 24 candidates and now, only three remain in the race for the presidency.

Sixteen candidates have dropped from the Republican Party, two of them being Kasich and Cruz who have both left leaving Donald Trump as the only runner.

The Democratic Party that initially began with six candidates is now left with Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.

At the beginning, these presidential debates gave me the impression that they were unprofessional rather than presidential.

The debates on both sides have each been interesting—except not in the most political way.

For example, Trump has put himself through some of the stickiest situations on live television during the debates.

We all remember when he said, “Look at that face,” while referring to candidate Carly Fiorina, or the time he indirectly referred to Jeb Bush’s wife and said, “If my wife were from Mexico, I think I would have a soft spot for people from Mexico.”

Many have labeled this presidential election as unprofessional, messy, embarrassing and sadly a joke.

I do not think this election is anything close to a joke; it is competitive in a different way from past elections.

This election has seen the candidates who were thought to cruise their way to the presidency struggle to get past the underdogs.

Many, like myself, did not believe Trump had a shot at winning anything but he is officially the last republican in the race.

The tactics that Trump used and is still using to get to where he is now have been questionable, to say the least.

I do not agree with his many bizarre approaches, but it has all been proven effective.

Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are known for their ability to speak and connect with the public.

Both share these traits with Sanders and Trump.

Although, each in very different ways.

“He (Sanders) begins with an us-versus-them theme, Mr. Sanders puts his own, wordier spin on President Obama’s campaign message of ‘Yes we can’,” stated writers Patrick Healy and Erica Berenstein of The New York Times.

Trump, on the other hand, is different from anyone we have ever seen, yet he is very influential.

“Mr. Trump’s language is darker, more violent and more prone to insults and aggrandizing,” stated Jeremy B. Merrill of The New York Times.

I do not see Trump’s approaches towards other candidates deem fit for a future president, but as statistics have proven, they have been more than impactful.

“Trump speaks in a language that suits the American people, a language we use on a day-to-day basis causing no confusion among us. Even though he goes overboard or becomes aggressive he shows that he’s a normal human being with emotions,” said student Nathan Belisle.

As mentioned before only three major contenders still stand in the competition for the presidency.

So, after speaking about Trump and Sanders, where does Clinton stand on this “joke” of an election?

Clinton being the U.S. First Lady, elected to the Senate, running in 2008 and becoming the Secretary of State in 2009, leaves no doubt in my mind that she is the most prepared candidate to become president.

Having and showing her experience while winning most of the debates, Clinton has showed the nation that this election is as serious as any other.

What leads me to believe that others think this election is a mockery is the way that Trump takes jabs at his opponents.

Trump is something we have never seen before; he has climbed his way to the top by bringing the other candidates personal lives rather than his knowledge on policies into the debates.

Ditching the traditional political knowledge displayed in most debates might make the election unprofessional or embarrassing, but it does not make Trump any less of a candidate.

His lack of experience in politics could later be a blessing to the country in a way that has so far been proven to work.