I am a young Republican woman and I am devastated that Donald Trump has won the presidency. Throughout this election season, I have spoken with friends and family alike about my belief that this election is much closer than the media and the polls would have us believe. However, most seemed happy to listen to the reports of mainstream media and Nate Silver.
As of the morning of November 8th, Nate Silver gave Trump a 35% chance of winning the white house. The New York Times put Trump’s odds at 15% on the morning of November 8th. Throughout the past week, the Wall Street Journal has continuously played up Clinton’s lead in the polls.
Hubris has struck and America has lost.
The reason we lost is simple: we stopped listening to each other. The left loves to paint the right as intolerant, and they are correct. There is a sect of conservatives that are intolerant and resist social change. The left has become intolerant of the right. Therein lies the problem.
Democrats justify their intolerance of Republicans by asserting that if the right is intolerant of homosexuality, persons of color, religious minorities etc. we will be intolerant of them. What this boils down to is this: you’re doing something I don’t like so I’m going to do the same exact thing to you.
Most people can agree that the “an eye for an eye” principle begets violence, antagonism and hatred. This is no different. Intolerance cannot beget intolerance anymore.
This election has proven that there is a large portion of the country unhappy with the direction we are moving in. As a democratic-republic we cannot ignore them. We cannot shove our ideologies, values, and philosophies onto them. We must listen and we must compromise.
We should not cave to demands. We should not agree to move backwards. I am not advocating for anyone’s rights to be revoked. On the contrary, I am issuing an appeal to everyone: the people that disagree with us cannot be silenced anymore. Let us move forward and unite as one. Find the issues we disagree on and figure out how to come to a solution that most can be happy with.
This is where the media comes in. In the aftermath of this election, I don’t think that anyone can deny the broad liberal bias both within the mainstream media.
The majority of polls have shown the possibility of a Trump win since the Comey letter was leaked. Most polls were within the margin of error, with the exception of polls run by large media corporations (they showed Clinton ahead by four to six points) and the LA Times/USC poll that showed Trump ahead. Why then was the mainstream media loudly and proudly projecting a likely Clinton victory?
The media dismissed the beliefs of a large portion of the country and reported on the election as if there was no choice. Hillary Clinton was going to win because she was the only sane option. I do agree that she was the only sane option but the media has a responsibility to report objectively and more importantly they have an obligation to report accurately. They ignored the majority of the polls that showed the race tightening to well within the margin of error over the past several days. What effect did this have on the race? Knowing that people have a strong dislike for Hillary Clinton did their projections elicit complacency? Did many of the people that hate Trump but can’t stomach Clinton stay home or vote third party because they felt assured of Clinton’s victory? We can’t know the answer to this but we also can’t discount this possibility.
Perhaps if the media had portrayed a more realistic idea of where the country was in terms of their voting preferences, we would have woken up having elected our first female president.
This election needs to serve as a wake up call. Moving forward we must work towards unity and compromise wherever possible. Intolerance on both sides must be eradicated and we must work together to achieve this.
Fighting is not the answer. Complaining is not the answer. Moving is not the answer. The answer is simple: we are a country divided and we must find a way to come together before we are ruined.
If you know someone that voted for Trump find out why. Make them articulate what they want Trump to accomplish in office. Find out why they believe Trump is the best person to accomplish those goals. They are not all bigoted, homophobic, racist, xenophobic monsters. Many are hardworking Americans that want Trump to change the economy and trade laws or focus on rebuilding our military. I discovered this after scrolling through the Trump supporter Reddit page for two hours this morning. I learned something and I am a better person for it.
I am afraid. I am afraid of what Trump will do with our nuclear launch codes. I am afraid for my friends (and everyone else) in the LGBTQ community. I am afraid for my sister, my nieces, my female friends and women everywhere. I am afraid for everyone that is a person of color. I am afraid for immigrants. I am afraid for Muslims. I will not answer my fear with retaliation against Trump or his supporters. I will not answer my fear with intolerance of those whom disagree with me. Moving forward I will work to unite our country. I will listen to everyone’s views and attempt to find ways to compromise with them, without sacrificing my ideologies.
Do not let this one election, this one man ruin our country. Do not let superiority, righteousness or intolerance keep you from starting a dialogue, continuing the conversation and resolving conflict (in a peaceful way).
Hubris cost us yesterday. It was our tragic flaw in the Greek tragedy that was this election cycle. Let us work together to keep it from winning ever again.
