By Ethan Moore, page editor.
The election season has concluded, and we now have a new president elect. Many popular sites including Politico, Nate Silver, and FiveThirtyEight used the polling data to predict that Hillary Clinton would become the next president of the United States. When Americans actually went to the polls, they had a different decision in mind. Donald Trump ran rough shot through the swing states, and even took a couple blue states along the way.
“I just don’t understand how all of the polling places were so wrong.” says Akiesha Yarger, a first year student here at Delta.
As it stands, Trump won the Electoral College 290-232, with our own Michigan still sending in votes via carrier pigeon. Hillary Clinton ended up winning the popular vote by about 600,000, which is the second time that has happened since the turn of the century. Lost in the fanfare of a Trump upset, the GOP retained control of both the house and senate, which gives them full control of the executive and legislative branches. However, the real shock came in the form of Donald Trump cruising to a victory in a way few anticipated.
“This election has really turned the political process on its head. It makes you question the validity of polling organizations having accurate data. Because Trump was viewed as the less socially acceptable answer, it’s possible that skewed the polling data,” says Lisa Lawrason, a political science professor at Delta.
Since the results were announced there, have been and continue to be numerous protests throughout the country. Many claim Trump to be #NotMyPresident, and point to his not winning the popular vote as proof. This raises the question as to whether or not the Electoral College will survive to see another presidential election.
“The Electoral College helps to give smaller states more of a say in the election, and in turn the GOP tend to win a lot of these small states. Constitutional amendments are hard enough to pass, so because the house is GOP controlled it’s going to be very difficult to make that change,” says Lawrason.
Here at Delta, a lot of the response has been more towards the negative side. Students have been seen visibly distraught over the result, and even sat together in Founder’s Hall to talk about how the election has made them feel.
“It’s incredibly frustrating how people can ignore the things that Trump has said to the point where he’s now the president. It may be easy for some people to forget, but I just can’t imagine letting this man lead me,” says Yarger
President Jean Goodnow recently released a campus wide statement talking about how Delta will continue to strive towards a safe and diverse environment at the college.
“I hope that Delta will still be a place that’s safe. I’m not sure how much this election will actually affect us, but I hope it’s not much,” says second year student Heather Lopez.
Donald Trump will now begin to put together a cabinet, and try to make the transition between the presidencies as smooth as possible.
“It’s going to be interesting to evaluate some of his cabinet picks and the people he puts in his administration. So far he’s balanced the line between picking people that show he’s ready to work with the Republicans in the house, but then your picks like Steve Bannon that show he still wants to respect the people that put him in office,” says Lawrason.
Bannon is a former businessperson and media executive who has drawn criticism from various civil rights groups and members of Congress for comments in the past that have come off as anti-semitic. His former colleagues have come to his defense, saying his remarks have been taken out of context.
Only time will tell what kind of president and administrator Trump will be for the country.
“I believe that Trump will try to be all things for all people, and whether or not he can actually pull that off remains to be seen,” says Lawrason.