2016 Election Analysis

2016 Election Analysis

Justin Oei, Staff Writer

The results are in. Donald Trump has emerged as the next leader of the free world. Where do we go next?

That is the question everyone over America is asking today. “Where will we be going?” “How did this happen?” Trump’s election is that upset that nobody ever thought would happen. From the start, his very candidacy was dismissed as a fleeting joke, yet two years later, he stands poised to be the most influential man on earth.

Now, though, is the time for looking back on this historic campaign and how it changed the electoral map. First, we see that once again, the candidate with the most votes lost the election. Hillary Clinton was leading by no small margin; final tallies showed her leading Trump by over 100,000 votes. Rather, Trump won in the electoral college, 279-229. (However, three states are still being tabulated: Michigan, New Hampshire, and Arizona).

We also saw the first woman to ever become a major party’s nominee. We also found that more people were voting this year based on hate, rather than actual support for a candidate. Lastly, we found, as was put by Hillary Clinton, “we were more divided than any of us thought.” As such, a CNN pundit attributed this election to “Whitelash” – the disenfranchisement felt by white males without a college education.

The next few days, even years are uncertain, as was seen in the markets this morning, but, if Trump can keep true to his promise to be a leader “for everyone,” our government will continue to be what it has always been: of the people, by the people, and for the people.