The United States had a collective jaw drop after the results of the 2016 Presidential Election rolled in. As more and more states unexpectedly turned red, the roughly 62 million people that didn’t vote for now President-Elect Trump started feeling a little more than blue.
No one saw this coming.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
The election of Donald Trump is a pivotal turning point in American politics. It is a scary indication of the small, “silent” majority that got Trump elected, and it shows the incredible fallacies and powers of a democratic polity.
So how did we get here in the first place?
In short: the media failed us.
It was naïve of the media to treat Donald Trump as a joke. Some news sources that posted news about Trump’s campaign in their entertainment sections became the butt of the jokes when he won the Republic Party’s nomination for president.
The media gave Trump excessive airtime in comparison to Bernie Sanders, whose popularity was analogous to that of Trump’s. Sanders, too, was an outsider claiming he could work for underrepresented groups. The difference was this: Trump got more attention because of the nature of his personality. He rolled in money for the big networks with the more airtime he got- Sanders didn’t. Even though Sanders’ rallies attracted thousands of supporters, Trump’s big personality overpowered the magnitude of Sanders’ rallies. Had the media been more responsible in this regard- perhaps Sanders would have had a much better shot of actually advancing to the nomination, and eventually the presidency.
Good watchdog journalism is just nonexistent in major news networks. The media failed to fact-check Trump, focusing on his personality instead. Why? Because that’s what got views. That’s what made money. After all, what do we expect from media networks that are owned by entertainment conglomerates?
When journalism fails, democracy fails. Excessive airtime for Trump inadvertently created apathy in voters who saw no viability in either candidate. Further, the media was convinced that Clinton- after winning the Democratic Party and soaring in polls- would win by a landslide. The naivety of the media in thinking that Trump was not a real threat also created voter apathy- people were convinced she’d win by a safe margin, and they stayed home. Being able to elect leaders freely is an essential component of democracy that was compromised by the media’s inability to be truthful in Clinton’s chances of wining.
Additionally, the failure of the Democratic Party to reach out to these underrepresented white voters hurt Clinton’s chances tremendously. The Democrats had the perfect opportunity to show themselves the more progressive party and failed to do so. The fallacies from within the Democratic Party itself failed Clinton and failed voters on the fence.
The Sleeper Cell Voters
Media analysts were convinced that the “sleeper cell” voters- such as Hispanics- would carry Clinton to an easy victory. What the media- and the American people, frankly- failed to realize was that the sleeper cell was not the Hispanic vote, but the angry, white nationalist vote. Trump was the only of the two major party candidates that addressed the concerns of these voters directly, and he was able to mobilize them in the remarkable support he got from these white voters, including white women.
But his remarkable backing from the white community is also terrifying. There was an extensive white nationalist/supremacist movement that fueled many of his voters. Some of these are voters that are convinced that immigrants who inherently look different from them have taken their jobs. Some of these are voters that are convinced that anyone who looks different from them is an inherent danger to them. And Trump’s candidacy only perpetuated and mobilized such nationalist attitudes.
Racism in America still exists. Sexism in America still exists. It is naïve to ignore the very real, deep-rooted prejudices that still exist in American culture. It is naïve to think that these prejudices are not widespread, because they are. Donald Trump’s election is a scary indication of the extent to which prejudice is still prevalent in American society.
Where do we go from here?
Of course people are angry. Of course people are upset. Protests seem to be an effective way to deal with the emotions associated with the election. But one thing should be clear: just protesting will do nothing.
The protests have already gone on too long. I agreed with the premise of protesting up through the first three days of the election- but it’s time for action now.
Additionally- I disagree with any protests whose premise is on anger. We cannot fight nationalism with nationalism. We cannot fight fire with fire. Any protests must be peaceful. Shouting phrases like “FUCK TRUMP,” among others, is an example of exactly the type of anger that we are trying to refute, the type of anger that got us here in the first place. Any protests must be outpourings of solidarity and movements promoting change, not angry marches. It completely defeats the purpose of the protest and leaves the protesters open to more criticism that praise.
I would say to give the protests another week. But after everybody has had their chance to protest- it’s time to take action. We have to look for ways to actually amend the system that brought us Donald Trump, to work in our own communities to combat voter apathy. Everyone has started talking about 2020- but there are elections for Congressional office every two years. In 2018, we have the opportunity to turn the House and/or Senate blue once again. We can work with our local and state governments to create progressive policies on the micro level, and eventually bring them to the macro level.
The democratic system that brought us Donald Trump also has the immense ability to create change, and it would be a shame if that ability were not exercised in the four years to come.
The Electoral College
It is true that Clinton won the popular vote but failed to win the Electoral College. This has become an increasing trend in American politics.
It needs to change. And though it’s sad, it took the election of Donald Trump for the American people to wake up to the realities of the outdated system known as the Electoral College.
Thou Shall Not Lose Hope
Lack of hope, apathy, among other things, got us here in the first place.
Donald Trump will be the 45th president of the United States. In the words of Hillary Clinton, we owe him a chance to lead. We owe him a fair and peaceful transition of power. These are the realities that we must face, no matter how hopeless we may feel.
If we lose hope now, we are in even more danger than we are in right now.
If we lose hope now, we will not be able to see a progressive Congress. We will not be able to overturn Trump in 2020. If we lost hope now, we are losing an incredible opportunity to create change.
If we lose hope now, we only go further backwards than we already are.
2018, here we come.
