A majority of Southerners involved in politics were confident in their presidential choice in this year's election. As the stereotype goes, most supported the Republican candidate: the one and only Donald Trump. The few people who dare to side with the Democratic party in the South voted for Hillary Clinton. I was not of age to vote, but I still found myself deeply troubled by how this election played out. Maybe this is how elections always are, but our two options were less than satisfactory.
Mrs. Clinton, as could be expected, had a platform of liberal beliefs. Individuals in the South had reason enough to disagree with her. After a congressional subpoena was delivered, a Clinton employee deleted around 33,000 emails off of a private server. It was now assumed that she was hiding something about the Benghazi incident; one that killed several American soldiers. Now let's get to Trump. Although he supports most classic conservative values, his character was in the spotlight as something of concern to the American public. Mr. Trump, a celebrity of sorts before his campaign, shared his opinions with blatant disregard of tact. Of the many things he said, perhaps the most disturbing were his comments about women.
This election was more of a media battle than anything else. Both candidates focused on digging up dirt on each other; more than they focused on convincing candidates of their own merit. The media not only covered this but continually encouraged it; a reason I personally believe influenced this race.
As a Christian, I found it difficult to support either candidate. When election day came, I was worried: neither candidate was what I have always expected a president to be. Maybe it is because this is the first election I have been old enough to understand, but I was anxious for the outcome. I hope that our country can find a way to reach common ground, even if we do not agree on who is being inaugurated in just a few days.
When it comes down to it: a president is not the reason our nation is divided, it is the lack of love we inherently lack.
