As the 2016 presidential election approaches this November, it seems that current candidates of both parties are making headlines daily.  Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Buzzfeed are constantly flooded with thoughts on the individuals who may one day take office.  Whatever the issue is at hand, each candidate is represented differently online and subject to people’s scrutiny or praise. 

Recently, the Internet has had a field day with a story that was released, claiming that Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is the Zodiac Killer. 

Yes, you read that correctly.  We are currently living in a country that is so scarily media-obsessive that a rumor such as this one is trending on social media sites.

According to Rolling Stone, the prospective voters in Florida were asked if they thought Cruz was the Zodiac killer, to which 10 percent of individuals believed he is. Another 28 percent of people who partook in the poll stated that they were unsure if Cruz was the man who took at least 35 lives in North Carolina in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Speculation regarding this topic arose on Twitter as early as 2013, when people of Texas were poking fun at the Senator.  Cruz is used to being watched closely under the public’s crucial eye, however, he disregards these allegations, probably because he was born in 1970, meaning he was only an infant during this time period.

The problem with allegations such as this is not viewed as a threat to his political career, but does in fact take away from the political issues that need to be addressed in order to move this country to a better place.  The political campaign of 2016 will within itself be held as a whole new ballgame, for each individual running is different than the next in personality, ethnic background and plans to further change our country.  When social media sites and internet sensation blogs pose stories or conspiracies such as this, it allows for individuals who acquire information regarding political affairs via the Internet to not accurately understand the situation, which leads to a sense of ignorance. 

Online news sites and even search engines often make it very difficult to avoid biases because of the influx of stories posted about these individuals, and granted this political race has characters of very strong personalities, but that does not take into account the fact that one of these individuals will one day have to sit in a room with world leaders and make national and international decisions. 

For society to focus on a story such as one of the candidates being the Zodiac killer is unnecessary.  The issues individuals should concern themselves with are those that pertain to the political race itself, whether that be immigration, the environment or the never-ending list of social issues that are also somewhat of a distraction to the development of the campaign overall. 

I am not sure if there is a denial of the many issues at hand in this upcoming presidential race, but I do know and hope that individuals can begin to focus on the issues pertaining to policies and character in order to bring light to the matters that will better this country.