By Emily Richardson

Living in Utah, I have seen a frenzy of people upset over the outcome of the recent presidential election, where President Barack Obama won for a second term over Republican candidate Mitt Romney. I have heard Davis High students bashing President Obama and saying that he will only corrupt the United States.

While I may not believe in all the policies that President Obama wants to implement, I do believe that as a citizen of this country, we must support our leaders, as we have a fair election system that elects candidates with majority of the votes.

According to Huffington Post’s election results, 51.1 percent, or 65,899,557 people voted for President Obama in the 2012 election, with only 24.7 percent of the state of Utah voting for him. This shows that majority of the people in Utah did not or do not support Obama for a second term.

There has never been and never will be a candidate elected president that every citizen likes and supports, and that isn’t necessary. What is necessary is that the majority elects them, and the government maintains its legitimacy, meaning that the citizens believe in the government and feel they should abide by the laws.

When electing a president, one major area of focus is the policies that the candidate plans to create. At the recent State of the Union Address, President Obama stated, “let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9 an hour.” It is policies like this that I agree with, ones that will benefit my life and those around me directly.

However, there are other policies that are very controversial. For example, Obama proposed no longer making charitable donations tax deductible. According to the National Economic Council’s release on the charitable deduction, “proposals that take tax rates off the table would threaten donations to universities, non-profit hospitals, and other philanthropic organizations.”

There are many Republicans in Utah that disagree with Obama’s policies, but they still must respect him as the leader of this country. I think that is what this country needs to work on. We are a free country and run a fair election. Because of this, we must support our political leaders.