I wanted to wait as long as possible before the due date of this article to write my reaction to the results of the 2016 election. My emotions ran so high watching the votes pour in from all across the country that I shut off the news, went to bed, and woke up to a world that had erupted into splinters of our once recognizable democracy.
There are so many layers to what happened last Tuesday. I first want to start with my state's referendum questions.
I was born and raised in the extremely diverse population of Lewiston, Maine. We are home to a beautiful mixture of culture and customs and home to many refugees fleeing a violent civil war in Somalia. Sound familiar? I have seen the best of diversity and the worst of prejudice.
This past Tuesday, we made great strides by legalizing marijuana, raising the minimum wage, supporting infrastructure, and implementing rank-choice voting options. However, we failed to pass comprehensive background checks for the purchase of fire arms. In my opinion, this was one of the most important issues on the ballot, but these topics were not as contested as the senate seats that were up for grabs or the presidential race.
I am excited to say that despite the fact that Republicans still hold the House and the Senate, women had a historic day. Illinois elected Tammy Duckworth, the first Thai-American and totally sassy, badass veteran. Minnesota elected Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American to be elected to congress. She gives me hope for the expectance of the Somali population in my hometown. California elected Kamala Harris, the first African-American senator to represent California and the second African-American woman senator EVER. Nevada elected Catherine Cortez Masto, the first Latina ever elected to senate. Lastly, though she was not elected to the House or the Senate, Kate Brown of Oregon was the first openly LGBT person to be elected as governor. Many diverse groups across the United States continue to shatter glass ceilings and make the sky their limit.
Lastly, the moment you've all been waiting for, my reaction to the results of the presidential election. I'm upset. I'm scared. I feel cheated and abused by our system that claims its democratic in nature. None of the candidates were a good fit for office. Jill Stein is a left-wing extremism who believed vaccines give you autism. Gary Johnson is both batshit crazy and simultaneously absent. Hillary is a power hungry, corrupt, corporatized, war mongering profiteer, who corrupted the democratic primaries along with Debbie Wasserman Schultz; but more on that later. And Trump... to quote Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, democratic presidential nominee, he's "racist, sexist, xenophobic and [supports] anti-environment policies". And you know what's sad? Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, makes him look like a breath of fresh Canadian air. Mike Pence would gladly start the next Crusade against minorities and women to push his white-washed, patriarchal views on the rest of American society. I won't waste your time with my own sources. I have done my duty to research and educate myself and I urge you to do the same.
In such a negative period of time and its so easy to lay blame. And there is plenty of blame to go around. Trust me, I've been laying it on thick since Wednesday morning in my Comparative Political System's class. Here are two major variable that went into creating a Trump presidency
The DNC, or Democratic National Committee
Back at the beginning of the year, the democratic nominees for president, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders battled it out in the primaries state wide. After polling showed that Bernie had a ten point lead on Trump, the DNC ignored the will of the members of constituency and chose Hillary Clinton as their nominee. This was after our good friend Debbie Wassermen Schultz announced on TV that the super delegates existed to oppose a grassroots campaign, even though this particular one was with the majority. Bernie Sanders had the original platform that Hillary Clinton eventually adopted. So why for one second would the DNC not elect Bernie Sanders to be there nominee? How does Hillary Clinton expect us to trust her bullshit when she continues to corrupt and kill everything she touches? The DNC didn't anticipate the amount of hate that America projects onto this woman and they furthered the gutting of their party when they didn't anticipate how fed up their constituents were with the outcomes of the primaries; why do you think 5.5 million voters voted for third party candidates as protest votes?
Do not blame protest voting, they were pushed by the abandonment of their committee. Do not blame Trump supporters, yes I just typed that, their fear of the flawed system pushed them to desperation and a candidate that promised them what they've been searching for.
The Electoral College
The Electoral College is bullshit, plain and simple. A democracy should be based off from the majority of votes for a certain candidate, not an archaic, winner-takes-all system created when citizens had less availability to resources and education. The system chose Trump, not the people. Here's a link to Adam Ruins Everything's Adam Ruins the Electoral College:
No matter how this election turned out, I hope and pray that these next four years will be bearable. I hope all of the hateful rhetoric was a way to manipulate the fear of voters to get into office. I hope that he does well for this country and pushes beyond my immense distaste and distrust of him. And until I see statesmenship, grace, and eloquence from this man, he is not my president and I will oppose him as vehemently as the White Seniors that still call Obama a Muslim.
"No matter what happens, the sun will rise in the morning." - Barack Obama
