Lesser of Two Evils

              

                How many of you expected to wake up Wednesday morning with the news that Hillary Clinton had won the election in a landslide. I’m not going to lie, I did. Forget for a minute that her husband had infidelities while in the White House. Forget her stance on abortion, that she backs aborting a fetus up until the moment the doctor slaps the baby on the ass and hears its first adorable cry for its mother. Forget the emails that contained confidential information that could have carelessly compromised national security. Or the fact that when she was asked about the existence of said emails, she deleted them and violently smashed her phone with a hammer. There are so many decisions made on her part that discredit her ability to be our commander and chief. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYKAzJcU-DA)

                On the flip side, you have a Republican nominee that has no political experience. Donald Trump has been the voice of controversy throughout his career. He is the real estate mogul that made it big in the Big Apple. He is famous in part for being wealthy, for flaunting around a Russian supermodel wife, and for the infamous words “Your Fired.” Most recently he is known for words like “bigly, braggadocious, and yuge.” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEzYEJW0Tyo) He has also made headlines for possible sexual assault and caught on film bragging about such instances. He has open hatred towards the Latino and Muslims communities. To put it blatantly, he is a misogynist, egotistical, racist. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5wBY6D7V34)

                There is not much to like about either candidate. Tuesday was Election Day. The night started with talk of how Hillary was going to run away with the election. In the early going, her camp was very excited. As the voting stations were closing across the east coast and votes were starting to be calculated, optimistic Democrats were jubilant.

               

                The Republican camp was optimistic themselves, as they had taken control of two of the swing states, Florida and North Carolina. Talks that Trump had a long path ahead of him began to wear heavy on the Democrats. As red began to fill the map on the rural areas, talks of how Hillary was going to make up votes. Another big domino fell shortly after as Ohio was painted red. Leading at this time in the electoral college, the Republican camp realized there was a real chance for them.

                Hillary forced the issue and claimed New York, Minnesota, and California. States such as Oregon and Washington state as well as D.C. were all painted blue. Calls were being made to states that had polls closing later in the night or had traditionally been late to get their votes turned in. States like Wisconsin and Michigan were states that predominately voted Democrat, so even though Trump had a slight lead in the polls, hope was that the Democratic votes would come in to help her regain the vote lead in those states.

This is a map of the states and their contribution of electoral college by size.

                As the night went on more states were painted red. Texas, the Dakotas, and Montana were all filled in for the Republican candidate. A break in the action lasted for around two hours as votes were being tallied. It didn’t look good for Democrats. Arizona went to the republicans, and then the backbreaker. Pennsylvania was turned red. At that time, it was academic. He held a lead in the remaining states, and there were not enough votes to be counted in the Democrats favor. Michigan and Wisconsin were also added to Trump’s total count.

The Republicans claim the House of Representatives and the Senate.

                In total, Trump carried 290 vs. Hillary’s 228 electoral votes. It was a big night for Republicans all around as they captured the majority of votes for the Senate as well as the House of Representatives. Some are already saying that Hillary did not spend the amount of time necessary in states that in recent history has voted Democratic. Maybe that is the case, or maybe she underestimated her opponent. Maybe the national media is so blinded by their own political biases, they refused to open their eyes to what was actually unfolding right before their eyes. The exit polls showed Hillary in the lead, therefore Hillary was clearly the favorite to win.

                One thing is for sure, America needed change. I’m not convinced that Trump is who is going to facilitate change. I’m not sure if it was the lesser of two evils who took the night. Maybe the U.S. voters felt that they had to get away from Democratic control. If that was the case, they did in dramatic fashion. Whatever the case, we have a new President-elect. We enter a new era, a time of uncertainty, in a time when we could use some assurance. I hope that we make it through stronger than we enter this period. A recent quote sums it up pretty well, “We can make it through a Trump presidency, we might not be able to make it if Hillary were to become president.” I’m not sure if this is the case, but maybe someone a bit unorthodox is what this country needs. God Bless America, we could sure use it.

A night full of emotion.

Protesting Trump after the election.

Trump protest in Chicago.