Election Night 2016: A Memoir

It is hard to believe that it has already been seven months since Election Day.  This Election Day was a very special one for me; as it marked the first time that I ever voted in a Presidential Election.  I had previously voted in the 2014 General election and the Republican Presidential Primary last spring. Even in a progressive state like Rhode Island, I needed to provide a valid voter ID before I could cast my ballot. Voting in both of those elections was a very quick, in and out experience.  On Election Day 2016, I ended up waiting in line for an hour just to feed the ballot into the one machine that was at my precinct.  But I felt that the wait was worth it; as I was performing my civic duty.    

 

I planned on staying up late to watch the election results come in; it certainly helped that I did not have class until 2:00 the next day.  To be honest, I would have stayed up even if I did have class first thing in the morning.  When I finally decided to turn off the TV and go to bed, Trump had accumulated a total of 254 electoral votes; 16 short of the magic number needed to clinch the Presidency.  The discussion had turned from “what’s his possible path” to “what’s her possible path.” Even if Trump did not win any more of the Rust Belt states that had still not been called, I knew that he could get to at least 269 by carrying the typically Republican states of Arizona and Alaska; and one or both of the competitive congressional districts in Nebraska and Maine.

 

My mother woke me up in the middle of the night, telling me “Trump won!”  I responded “I know.”  Even though I didn’t know for sure when I went to bed, I was pretty confident that he would pull off an upset.   The taste of victory was made even sweeter by the fact that just a month earlier, everyone from well-respected political pundits to my professors was convinced that there was no way that Donald Trump could possibly become President of the United States.  They thought for sure that the leak of the controversial “Access Hollywood” tape had sunk his candidacy.  Die-Hard Democrats were also hoping that Trump’s candidacy would destroy the Republican Party for good.  Some pundits were even predicting that Trump might lose the reliably Republican Utah to Evan McMuffin, a third party candidate supported by the Never Trumpers.  They were all wrong.  Despite relentless opposition from the media, the Democrats and many in his own party, Trump still managed to win more electoral votes than any Republican since George H.W. Bush in 1988.  Also, Republicans managed to keep control of both houses of Congress and pick up even more governorships; giving them a 2-1 edge over the Democrats[1].  It’s safe to say that Election Night 2016 was a true underdog story.    

 

Not everyone was as excited about the results of the election as I was; although that wasn’t much of a surprise.  When I went to school the day following the election, there were flyers up all over the place that read: “Why am I Against Donald Trump?”  Here are the reasons listed:

·         Because I love my friends of color

·         Because I feel compassion for the handicapped

·         Because I believe in the beauty, respect, and equality of women

·         Because minorities deserve space, time recognition

·         Because I hold no respect for someone who is racist, sexist and xenophobic

·         Because someone with a child r*pe trial should not be in office

·         Because I love my LBGTQ+ friends, whose identities are beautiful

 

That flyer certainly demonstrates how identity politics and the endless supply of left-wing propaganda from the corrupt and biased mainstream media have poisoned the minds of America’s youth.  If Hillary had won, it would have been interesting to see if a similar flyer would have been posted listing grievances about her ties to Wall Street and support for the Iraq War.   Remember that a lot of college students were die-hard Bernie fans; many of them never jumped on Hillary’s bandwagon, electing to either stay home or vote for a third party candidate.  Still, I have a feeling that the general mood on my campus the day after Election Day would not have been quite so dim had Hillary managed to win the election.

 

It is truly an honor to have had the opportunity to witness an election season like none other; the election of 2016.  It will be quite a challenge for future elections to top it; let alone match it.  This is an election that I will remember for the rest of my life.          

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[1] Republicans control 33 governorships; Democrats control 16; 1 state (Alaska) has an independent governor.