By RYAN SENECAL
Staff Writer
As the election returns were coming in and we were all glued to our television sets, it came as a surprise to all of us just how many states now President-elect Donald Trump was winning. When Florida, Ohio and North Carolina were all called for Trump, I knew this race was over for Hillary Clinton.
I, just like others, was in shock when I woke up at three in the morning to see that Trump won the presidency. He lost the popular vote, which we know is irrelevant in a presidential election, and won the Electoral College. At last check, he won 290 electoral votes to Clinton’s 228.
Many world leaders reached out to Trump and congratulated him on his success. United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Theresa May, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mexico’s President Enrique Pena Nieto and Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau all made friendly overtures.
It was interesting to read an article in Foreign Affairs before this election in which they interviewed Marine Le Pen, the founder of France’s National Front, a right-wing populist party. She was asked whether she would rather work with Clinton or Trump. She replied, “Anyone but Hillary.” Le Pen does not support the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. Trump opposes it as well.
She also extended her congratulations to Trump and said that populism has come to America.
I’m going to give Trump’s campaign credit where it is due. He and his campaign went into blue states like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and put time and money in those states while the Republican National Committee put volunteers on the ground in several states across the country.
He turned these states red. This reminds me of the George W. Bush campaign in 2000. The head of the campaign, Karl Rove, saw an opening in states like Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and other states that weren’t reliably red. Bush turned those states red in 2000.
What we witnessed Tuesday night into Wednesday morning was one of the biggest political upsets in American history. The polls, pollsters and the media were wrong about the outcome of this election. It’s funny that people wrote off Trump. I guess some of us did not think that it was possible that he could win but we should have seen this coming.
Less than ten days before Election Day, Clinton and her surrogates started campaigning heavily in the reliably blue state of Michigan. Trump and his surrogates did the same. Many were puzzled as to why the Trump campaign was putting more money and time in Michigan. When I heard this, I wondered why the campaigns were not focusing on Florida, which was really tight in the polls.
Michigan polling is generally not reliable. Just before the Michigan Democratic primary, Clinton was leading Senator Bernie Sanders by double digits. Sanders went on to win the primary.
Five days before the election, the Clinton campaign canceled fireworks that were supposed to be launched off over the East River when she was declared the winner. This should have been another sign that she was vulnerable.
In order to understand how Trump won, we have to understand the ground game that Republicans put in place after Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election. The RNC started the “Lead Right” campaign.
This was a grassroots effort across the country to bring forth Republican ideas, and people of all ages and backgrounds were involved in this effort. These people were put in states like Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, among others, that could be seen as possible states to vote Republican in the 2016.
Across the country on election night, it was a great night for Republicans. They won three more governorships in Vermont, New Hampshire and Missouri making the total number of Republican governors 33. Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin will be the next chairman of the Republican Governors Association. The North Carolina gubernatorial race between incumbent Republican Governor Pat McCrory and Democratic candidate Roy Cooper will go to a recount.
Republicans only lost eight seats in the House of Representatives and have so far lost three in the United States Senate.
Democrats have some soul searching to do. After this election, it is clear they did not have a clear message. Clinton said her administration would continue President Obama’s policies, but I’m sure people wanted a stronger message than “Stronger Together.”
Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean announced his candidacy to be chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Perhaps if the Democrats elect a decent chairperson, they could pick up the Senate in 2018. The House of Representatives will still be hard to pick up for Democrats in one election cycle.
Democrats also lost the union vote in this election. They have carried the union vote since the New Deal and when it went to the Republicans, I’m sure it hurt. They have to figure out a way to communicate a message that will resonate with workers.
Now, I realize people are upset with the results of this election. I realize Trump has said some terrible things about women, people with disabilities and Hispanics, just to name a few. It will be tough for some to get together to support the president-elect.
Instead of posting our ideologies and opinions on social media, how about we get involved in the political process. To the people who used hashtags on twitter to express their frustration, how many of you voted? I believe that the United States will come together. I’m a naturally optimistic person. Remember, if we don’t like the job Trump has done in four years, we can always vote him out.
