The Election of 2016

As of November 3, 2016

With only 5 days left until the final votes are cast for the presidential election, the announcement of the new president of the U.S., and the end of a tiring battle between two candidates, the United States is counting down to November 8th, 2016. In the beginning, it seemed as if there would never be a final result. Towards the middle however, many seemed surprised that both the Republican and Democratic candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, had even made it so far into the election. However, just this fall, a video of a vulgar conversation held between Mr. Trump and Billy Bush from 2005, was leaked to the public. The video was fraught with words most offensive and boorish that disparaged women and described highly inappropriate behavior. After the release of the video by the Washington Post, election polls have shown that candidate Clinton was leading by a wide margin. Although the gap has slightly closed, CNN polls currently show that Clinton is leading by 5%, with Trump being at 44%, Clinton 49%, Johnson 3%, and Stein 2%.

Post Election Day

Following the election, many in this country have been in a state of shock; the odds seemed to be cemented against Trump in nearly every poll; movements have sprung up in protest, multiple petitions have popped up demanding the impeachment of the new president elect, and there are claims that more and more hate crimes have been committed as of late. The controversial candidate managed to push through the challenge of the election, aided by the failure, or success depending on your perspective, of the electoral college. Losing the popular vote, but winning the votes of the states with the 200 year old, system devised by our founding fathers, this unusual victory has sparked much debate among people—should the system be kept, as it has elected the candidate with less votes, or should it be kept, as a necessary way of protecting the rights of the citizens of small states? Hate crimes committed by both sides of this political war have increased considerably, as some in California fight to secede (though the chances of that are very unlikely), and those that feel empowered by the election results react by attacking minorities that were seen as socially protected by a democratic president, as a protest to social justice movements. As the tensions in the country continue to rise, we can only wonder what the future has in store for us, as the people of the United States; no matter whether Trump can manage to unite the people of the USA or continues to divide them, the future for the political landscape of the United States certainly looks interesting.

Bona Hong ‘17, Jeffrey Cui ‘17