AP US Government & Politics

This blog is for students in Ms. Aby-Keirstead's AP US Government class in Bloomington, MN. It is for students to post their thoughts on current events and governmental affairs. Students should be respectful & think of this forum as an extension of their classroom. The instructor has the same expectations for classroom discussion & blog posts. These posts will be graded for both their academic merit & for their appropriateness.

Monday, November 7, 2016

Post 5!! Do not post until after Tuesday!

What is the significance of the 2016 presidential election?  What do these results mean for the next 4 years or longer in the US?  Please use at least 3 sources in your answer.

Do by Sunday, November 13th.

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50 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The 2016 election has been a shock to all. Many reliable and trustworthy news sources, including TIME Magazine, CNN, FiveThirtyEight, and the Los Angeles Times all predicted a huge win for Clinton. Many predicted electoral vote maps even anticipated Clinton winning by almost 200 electoral votes (1). However, this election has proven otherwise, and that even if the majority of predictions say one thing, there is still strong a possibility for the opposite to happen. I am appalled and nauseated by how different the predictions were as compared to the real polls. Trump has won over all the states that have been historically Republican or leaning Republican, as well as winning all battleground states, except for Nevada, and even one of Maine’s votes. Trump also won over Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, which all are historic Democratic leaning states (2).
Additionally, I am at a loss for words as this election shows just how many silent voters there were in this election. For example, FiveThirtyEight predicted a 71% chance that Clinton would win the election, but that was extremely off as Trump is our next president (3). This just goes to show how many people kept quiet about their true opinions when public polls were conducted, but once in the secrecy of voting booths, they expressed their true support for Trump.
Trump won the popular vote 48% to 47% against Clinton, and this reveals that almost half of the voters in the United States support Trump’s detrimental, unethical, and harmful policies. However, this ultimately should not come as a surprise, as America is literally built on the systems of institutional racism and sexism. It just comes as quite a shock and an astonishing revelation that we, the United States, need change.
The results of this dreadful election mean that for the next four years, people of color, minorities, women, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community will live in fear. Just to begin, Trump plans on overturning Roe v Wade, deporting thousands of illegal immigrants who have built their lives in America, and undoing marriage equality. During the next four years, the progress in society that has been created in the past eight years under Obama’s administration will virtually be wiped clean. Additionally, there will be detrimental economic impacts from Trump’s win that will occur over the next four years. Already, stock futures are already dropping in anticipation of Trump’s presidency (4). I am still in extreme shock that Trump, an extremely unqualified and hateful man has managed to become the POTUS, and I am quite nervous and scared to see the outcome and effects of his policies.

(1) http://time.com/4561625/electoral-college-predictions/
(2) http://interactives.ap.org/2016/general-election/?SITE=APQA
(3) http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/election-night-forecast-2016/
(4) http://www.wsj.com/articles/markets-ricochet-as-clinton-trump-trade-lead-in-florida-1478654413

November 9, 2016 at 12:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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November 9, 2016 at 4:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

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November 9, 2016 at 4:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The results of the 2016 election have been extremely shocking and disappointing. As of around 3:00 on Tuesday afternoon, fivethirtyeight gave Clinton a 71.4% chance of winning (1). However, on election night, Trump won Florida, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Ohio, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan. Excluding Ohio and Iowa, all of these states were expected to be won by Clinton. The results of this election will send women, people of color, the LGBT community, and other minorities back more than 50 years. According to the Inquisitr, minor parties took 3% of the vote in Florida (2% to Johnson, 0.7% to Stein, and 0.3% to other minor parties) (2). Trump has made his pro-life status clear, and though he hasn’t specifically talked about what he’ll do with Roe v. Wade, he has promised to defund Planned Parenthood (3). Women will lose the right to have safe reproductive health care. Trump has stated that he would strongly consider overturning the marriage equality Supreme Court Case (4). As a member of the LGBT community, I am afraid of the consequences that this presidency will have on us. Even if Trump is not able to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, he is normalizing hatred against LGBTQ+ people. Trumps’ VP, Mike Pence, supports using tax dollars for conversion therapy of LGBT youth (5). Our entire community will be affected by this presidency, and I can say from a personal standpoint that it is terrifying. Besides Trumps famous plan for a wall, he will end catch and release, implement a visa tracking system, suspend visa issuance for immigrants in some areas, and deport all immigrants convicted of crimes (6). Hardworking people will be deported from the country they have done so much for. Possibly the most devastating part of the results of this election is the fact that Clinton won the popular vote by 198,400 votes (7). She was essentially cheated by the outdated electoral college system, created to do just what it did Tuesday night; give the elitists the final say. The next four years in America will probably be some of the worst we’ve ever had. I am genuinely terrified to see how many of Trumps’ bigoted policies actually pass, and I am terrified for the future of our country.


(1.)http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/
(2.)http://www.inquisitr.
com/3696717/how-did-donald-trump-get-elected-president-how-third-party-votes-cost-americans-dearly/
(3.)http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/presidential-election-donald-trump-2016-women-girls-abortion-prolife-roe-v-wade-a7406336.html
(4.)http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/news/53558/what-does-a-trump-presidency-mean-for-lgbt-rights/
(5.)http://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2016/jul/28/gavin-newsom/true-mike-pence-advocated-conversion-therapy/
(6.)http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/nov/09/politifact-sheet-donald-trumps-immigration-plan/
(7.)http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/11/09/501393501/shades-of-2000-clinton-surpasses-trump-in-popular-vote-tally


November 9, 2016 at 6:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

the 2016 election has turned out to be a disaster beyond my wildest nightmares.[1] We elected a man with no political experience to speak of whose campaign platform was frighteningly similar to Hitler's. [2] This election will have serious repercussions for years to come, and will undeniably be a stain on the history books. advancements for LGBT+ rights will regress back years, perhaps even more [3], harm our foreign relations, potentially irreparably [4], reverse advancements for women's health [5], cause disastrous harm to the national economy [6], and could decimate american families by removing their access to healthcare. And all of that doesn't even include the social repercussions of his being elected. 48% of voters just said, extremely vocally, that a man that has been openly a racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, sexual predator is a preferable alternative to a women that made one scandalous blunder in a 30+ year political career. That will drastically affect women throughout the nation, and beyond, as they are given clear evidence just how much the odds are stacked against them. And that's just for white women; people of color will have it even worse in the coming years, both from Trump's administration and from the change in society, now that people have been told that being openly bigoted will have literally no negative effects. I am absolutely terrified right now. We made so many great strides in the last 8 years, and now it looks like all of that is going to be completely wiped out in the span of months, because we felt it better to put a less qualified Hitler in the White House than a women with over 30 years of political experience.
[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-wins_us_5822958ee4b0e80b02cdcbda
[2] http://www.thewrap.com/are-hitler-trump-comparisons-fair-a-holocaust-survivor-tells-his-son/
[3]http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2016/11/09/here-is-what-president-trump-means-for-lgbt-rights/
[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/09/what-it-will-take-for-president-trump-to-deport-millions-and-build-the-wall/
[5] http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/19/trump-ill-appoint-supreme-court-justices-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-abortion-case.html
[6] http://fortune.com/2016/11/09/trump-economy-taxes-immigration/
[7] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/acas-future-in-critical-condition-with-trumps-victory/2016/11/09/7c5587e8-a684-11e6-ba59-a7d93165c6d4_story.html

November 9, 2016 at 6:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

For lack of a better word, I would say I am disappointed. That word seems to only skim the surface, but it is accurate. This maybe because I am in a liberal state, surrounded by young liberal millennials, but I do not think any one guessed this. Almost all polls had Clinton leading by some margin or another. So, as far as how this election will change this country one of the major changes will have to be with how polls are taken. Clearly something went amiss or our way of polling is imperfect. Another huge change is the legislation that Trump plans to put into effect. After looking at his plan for the first 100 days, they are split into four parts, getting rid of corruption in the government, protecting american workers, returning america to constitutional rule of law, and the legislation he plans on putting in (1). Most of the things he suggest in the first part stop politicians from lobbying which of course have a large impact on politics as it is now. In the second part he plans with withdraw from the Trans-pacific partnership, as well as take down restrictions on oil and coal mining and production, part of that part that I find very troubling is that he plans to stop giving payments to the UN for climate change issues (1). As for “returning to constitutional rule of law” he plans to remove 2 million illegal immigrants, and vett the immigrants from “terror prone areas” even more (1). Although not mentioned in his 100 days, he has already said some of his plans for foreign policy. Some of his most famous mantras are defeating ISIS, engaging with Russia, and plans to change trade with China (2). All of which, if done wrong, could be horrible if not cataclysmic for people in america. Finally, although he did win, Trump is still not a favorite with the people in his own party. Figureheads of the Republican party openly said that they would not vote for him, and important Republican donors withdrew their support (3). Although now that it will be a unified government I still believe that a line will be drawn in the party and possibly a split will occur. To conclude, this is a time of unknowns and many things will happen. One thing I feel I can say for sure is that this presidency will be memorable history will decide how.

(1) http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days
(2) http://qz.com/834025/election-2016-donald-trump-will-face-five-major-foreign-policy-challenges/
(3) http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/09/donald-trump-win-roils-republican-party/93528608/

November 10, 2016 at 1:36 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This election was one of the most significant of the century. A man, who has never held a political position in his life, was elected to the top office in the world. He will destroy all the progress that Obama has made during his administration, including repealing the Affordable Care Act, and cut taxes to incredibly low amounts. Backed by a Republican Congress, he will have nearly free reign to do what he wants. However, his "wall" will be tough to get through, seeing as he demands that Mexico should pay for it. The Mexican Peso crashed hard after the election, and that will make it very difficult for them to fund. The term limits for Senators that he proposed will also be impossible to pass, as the Senate does not want them. Finally, he is going to cut down the amount of government workers, which Congress probably will not like. The issue that I am most worried about is Trump's position on the environment. He wishes to pull the United States out of the Paris Agreement. That agreement is all that is standing between us and the certain death of our Earth. If he pulls us out, America, as a country that uses quite of a bit of unsustainable energy, could counteract many other countries' environmental measures. Even if a pro-clean energy president succeeds Trump, the damage will have already been done, and it could be disastrous. In four years, the global surface temperature could be up to 0.5 degrees Celsius warmer than it is now. That will only increase faster if left to continue. Worst case scenario, the global surface temperature will be 3.5 degrees Celsius higher than it is now. Terrifying. I am scared, and everyone else should be too.
Save the Earth.
http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days
https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2015/cop21/eng/l09r01.pdf
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-07/scenariotempgraph_0.jpg

November 10, 2016 at 2:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Trump's recent victory is hugely significant for our country and will affect our country's foreign relations and the environment for the next four years and beyond. It will also bring a change to how we conduct our polls and our future presidential predictions. Our country's foreign relations will be dramatically influenced due to Trump's presidency. A former Mexican congressman declared, “All bets are off,” after the victory. The chairman of foreign affairs in Britain's House of Commons, Crispin Blunt, said, “We are plunged into uncertainty and the unknown.” Both of these quotes are from a New York Times Article titled: "Donald Trump’s Victory Promises to Upend the International Order" highlighting this election's impact. [1] The environment will also be impacted by this election result, with Trump claiming he would cut "Environmental Protection" because, "what they do is a disgrace."[2] The impact of Donald Trump cutting an organization that, according to whitehouse.gov, is an agency who's mission is to "protect human health and the environment" will affect our country and the environment for many years past those of Trump's presidency.[3] In addition to these impacts, Trump's utterly shocking win will completely change how we conduct polls and presidential predictions. The New York Times stated, as of Tuesday, November 8th that Hillary had an 85% chance of winning, a huge error on behalf of the predictor. [4] Overall Trump will hugely affect our country for years to come, and highlights errors in our polling and presidential prediction system.

Sources:
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/09/world/donald-trumps-victory-promises-to-upend-the-international-order.html
[2] http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Donald_Trump_Environment.htm
[3] https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/factsheet_department_epa
[4] http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/upshot/presidential-polls-forecast.html

November 10, 2016 at 4:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As most people seem to realize, the 2016 election was definitely a historic one, and one that will be spark arguments in the years to come. It seems as is the majority of the population believed that Clinton was going to win the election, with several Trump voters even being skeptical of his chances. But, as is now obvious, Trump was able to read the electorate better than any of the pollsters (1). As much as I hate to admit it, Trump won fairly under our election system, even without the popular vote. And from his victory, we are able to see a few things: much of America is not happy with how the last 8 years have gone, and many Americans are not ready for progressive change. Obviously, this is not the mentality of all Americans, because protests bearing the slogans “Not My President” have broken out across the country (2). It interests me that a man who causes this much protest is able to be our president. But, who knows? Now that Trump has the presidency, he might back off of his radical rhetoric slightly in order to better appeal to moderates. Even so, Trump plans to erase much of the progress and legislation made in the past 8 years, including Obamacare (3). To be completely honest, I want to believe that Trump possibly will be decent, but as of now, I cannot bring myself to do that. People claim that Trump might be slightly less radical in his views and behavior, but one needs to look farther back than the beginning of his campaign. All throughout his life, he has made racist, misogynistic comments, and I don’t really understand why his behavior would suddenly change. While part of me wants to see Trump succeed in unifying America, another part also wants to see Trump fail miserably at the presidency to show his supporters what they truly voted for. I have heard many times that it is unfavorable that Clinton is a career politician, and that they would “roll the dice” on Trump to see if he can bring about change. But, the presidency is not something people should be gambling on. The fate of our nation is more important than guesswork. Nevertheless, now that Trump is elected, he better follow through on his promises to “Make America Great Again,” but make it better for all Americans.


(1):https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/09/winners-and-losers-from-the-2016-election/
(2): http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/10/us/trump-election-protests.html
(3): http://www.businessinsider.com/what-president-trump-will-do-2-2016-11

November 10, 2016 at 8:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The significance of the 2016 presidential election is very large. It was an election that was anything but expected, and it shows the thoughts and feelings of the American people as well as the relationship amongst them. The fact that Trump won makes a large point as to where the American’s worries are at-the economy and immigration. The #1 response to why they voted from exit polls was immigration(1). Trump put much more of an emphasis on immigration than Clinton, who focused more on social aspects, and the people obviously reacted well to this. Also there were developments with people’s insurance premiums increasing before the election. Trump recognized this problem and made it a necessity to add it into his platform to repeal obama care (2). Currently the election has meant a lot of animosity within America. Since the election there have been riots and protests in major cities such as Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles (3). People say that Donald Trump is a catalyst to racism and homophobia and that is a big reason for the protesting. Overall this election marks a turning point in America which shows how Americans are favoring outsiders as they are fed up with current political elitism.


1. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/politics/election-exit-polls.html
2. https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/healthcare-reform
3, http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/11/us/oregon-protest-riot/

November 12, 2016 at 2:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The 2016 Presidential election will affect our country in the next four years and likely for many years to come. The success of Trump’s campaign was a complete surprise to many Americans after Clinton was forecasted to have a 85% chance of winning the election (5). While the predictions were not completely wrong considering the popular vote, polling did not showing a favorable chance of Trump rallying enough support to win the election whatsoever (4). It will be difficult to find out what went wrong in the polling system. Poll analysis blog, FiveThirtyEight suggests that it may have been a systematic polling error or that Trump may have gained a lot of support in the electorate after many of the polls had closed (4). This election also was an example of a flaw in our election system: that a candidate can win the popular vote and still not be elected as President of the United States (3). The election campaigns and the resulting protests also show a polarized and divided electorate through the hateful responses to Trump’s victory (1). In the first 100 days of Trump’s presidency, the healthcare system will face dramatic reforms through the repeal of the Affordable Care Act of 2010, and the immigration policy will change with the repeal of DACA and an institution of extreme screening and suspension of immigration from “terror prone” countries (1). Trade internationally will be affected by a withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and negotiations to change other agreements (1). Trump plans to impose high tariffs on products imported from other countries to increase American-made products and the productivity of the production sector of the economy. It will be quite a task for Trump to unify a country split by a divisive election campaign and to recover some respect after his many derogatory comments in reference to numerous peoples (2). He does however say, “I pledge to every citizen in the land that I will be president for all Americans” (4). Overall, I think that Trumps election to the presidency will have a great impact on healthcare and immigration policy among other areas, and that has shown the errors of polling and the electoral system.


(1)http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2016/nov/10/donald-trumps-campaign-promises-first-100-days/
(2)http://www.smh.com.au/world/us-election/us-election-what-does-a-donald-trump-presidency-mean-for-the-world-20161110-gsn0zd.html
(3)http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/7/12315574/electoral-college-explained-presidential-elections-2016
(4)http://www.theweek.co.uk/us-election-2016/74067/us-election-how-did-the-polls-get-it-so-wrong-on-trump#main-content-area
(5)http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/upshot/presidential-polls-forecast.html

November 12, 2016 at 4:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The results of this election have been shocking. This election is important because there is no incumbent running leaving the seat of president and vice president wide open in January 2017 (1). Who knows how minorities will be treated under Trump’s presidency. Generally every presidential election is important for the country and the world, but I am concerned about the next four years.. The election could mean that the supreme court seat is up to the next president to fill (2). The next four years will never be boring thats for sure. We will just have to wait and see how our new president acts during his presidency. It presents a choice between moving left:democratic or right:republican (3). Neither candidate was a very good choice, but people had to vote one way or the other. There is a gap between the two parties based on issues and the supreme court. That gap probably influenced many voters’ decisions.
1-http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/presidential-campaign/288551-why-2016-may-actually-be-the-most-important
2-https://ballotpedia.org/Impact_of_the_2016_election_on_the_United_States_Supreme_Court
3-http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-05/why-2016-may-be-the-most-important-election-of-our-lifetime


November 12, 2016 at 6:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am honestly disappointed by the results of the 2016 presidential election. The election of candidate Donald Trump was unexpected by political scientists, reliable pollsters, myself, as well as a fair portion of the American population. In the final two days leading up to the election, Clinton had over 70 percent chance of winning the presidential election (1). Despite this predicted victory, Trump was able to win all of the swing states, except Nevada (2). In addition, Trump flipped Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all states that appeared to favor Clinton (2). This election is significant because it shows our nation’s polarization and discontent for the government. The divide in society is demonstrated through the different results of the popular and electoral vote. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote with 47.8 percent of the vote, while Donald Trump won the electoral college vote with 292 votes (3). Trump’s victory shows that people want change in the government and who represents them. The fact that Trump was the underdog, with virtually no experience in government, boosted his campaign for office. The desire for change can also be seen through votes for third party candidates. Over six million people felt that both Clinton and Trump were unfavorable, voting for a third party candidate. This number is triple the amount of votes casted for third party candidates in 2012 (4). Polarization of society is also seen through reactions to the presidential election. Trump protests in major cities and the use of the “Not My President” phrase are examples of how Americans are unhappy with the government and election results. I believe the results of the 2016 election will lead to somewhat drastic changes in the government over the next four years. Trump has created an image of being a wildcard during the nomination process and campaign for presidency. I believe that almost anything can happen with Trump as president. With a republican majority in both houses Congress, it is quite likely Trump will be able to follow through on his plans such as repealing Obamacare, enacting his immigration reform plans, and renegotiating trade deals within the first 100 days in office (5). I am nervous to see Trump take office and watch his ideas turn into legislation. I am unsure of the impact on society in the long run, but I am sure that this election will be remembered as a turning point, whether it is for the best or worst.

(1) http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/?ex_cid=rrpromo
(2) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/us-election-results-and-state-by-state-maps/
(3) http://www.cnn.com/election/results
(4) http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/politics/gary-johnson-jill-stein-spoiler/index.html
(5) http://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-do-donald-trumps-first-100-days-in-office-look-like/

November 12, 2016 at 6:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The 2016 election has left many in disbelief, as something that no one thought could happen, did. Donald Trump pulled ahead in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, and North Carolina, effectively winning the presidency. Just hours before he was declared winner, broadcasters and analysts were discussing how limited Trump’s options for victory were, and the slim likelihood that one of these options would actually become the path the nation takes. Clearly something went awry with the polling, an industry that will be heavily impacted by this election. However, the polling was not the only surprise. Donald Trump did win the electoral college (assuming all delegates vote according to their state), but Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, something that has happened only five times throughout the existence of our electoral system (1).
As much as the odd occurrence of a popular vote loss but an electoral win will be remembered, much more significant things will mark the 2016 election. First, Trump’s win represents the possibility of a great social upheaval. He has taken a conservative stance regarding issues such as abortion and gay marriage (2), and his running-mate, Mike Pence, has come out strongly in opposition to both (3). If Trump manages to carry out his plans regarding social issues, the progress that was made under the Obama administration will be lost. Donald Trump’s presidency also symbolizes terror regarding environmental concerns. Trump has plans to cancel the Paris Climate Agreement, and since the United States is the second-largest greenhouse gas polluter, this could have detrimental consequences lasting much longer than Donald Trump’s presidency (4). These are just a few examples of the impression Trump could have on America. However, analyzing issues and stances is not the only way to measure the impact of this election, there is also the reaction from the people. After Trump was announced winner, a great amount of people have been terrified. Fearful of losing their right to marry, fearful of losing their reproductive rights, fearful of losing healthcare, fearful of losing their family. In my opinion, there is no better indicator to how significant these next four years will be than the public’s reaction to Trump’s election.


1:http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/why-electoral-college-landslides-are-easier-to-win-than-popular-vote-ones/
2: http://www.ontheissues.org/Donald_Trump.htm
3:http://www.ontheissues.org/Mike_Pence.htm
4:http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-36401174

November 13, 2016 at 6:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This election has been a surprise to many and will likely result in significant changes in the government. Before the election, many experts had predicted a Democratic takeover of the white house. In the Senate, Republicans had to defend 24 seat while Democrats only had to defend 10(1). Many other sources had predicted Clinton to win the election by many electoral votes, and FiveThirtyEight had even given her a 71% chance of winning.(2) Since the results were so surprising, and the electoral college system meant that Trump won even when Clinton had the popular vote, I think many people are looking for reform in this part of our government. Although this is the hope of the public, this type of reform never gains much support and previous attempts at change have never succeeded(3).
Also, after the election, the Republicans have control of the presidency and both houses of Congress, meaning it will be a unified government. Although there are areas where Trump and other Republicans do not agree, we can expect to see change where they “share common ground”(4). This would include the likely destruction of Obamacare and also the approval of conservative nominee to the Supreme Court. Many other policies on major issues are likely to change with the now Republican run government, which will result in major changes in America today and as we move into the future. Trump had said that he plans to “cancel” the Paris Climate Agreement and try to reverse some of the regulations regarding climate change that had been enacted during Obama’s presidency(5). If Trump follows through with reducing the amount of clean energy initiatives in the United States, it could greatly harm the environment as we move forward into the future. Another concern in policy change during the Trump presidency is the proliferation of nuclear weapons in both Asia and the Middle East. Trump had stated that he would dismantle the Iran nuclear accord, which would greatly impact the conflicts in the Middle East(5). He also faces the task of trying to control the amount of nuclear weapons in Asian countries such as North Korea, which if not negotiated well could end in trouble worldwide. Aside from these issues that impact the state of the world as we move into the future, there are also concerns for how Trump will handle social issues such as rights of the LGBT community. As Trump becomes president he will be held to the GOP platform, which opposes same-sex marriage, supports laws limiting which bathroom transgender people may use, and supports “conversion therapy” for gay and transgender children(6). Overall, this election has had surprising results, and the changes for America both now and into the future may be significant.


(1)http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-election-congress-control-20161108-story.html
(2)http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/
(3)https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/11/12/sorry-lady-gaga-were-not-reforming-the-electoral-college-any-time-soon/
(4)http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2016/11/economist-explains-5
(5)http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37918242
(6)http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/us/politics/trump-victory-alarms-gay-and-transgender-groups.html

November 13, 2016 at 8:16 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The 2016 presidential election was shocking to say the least. The results of this election were completely out of the blue, as many reliable sources predicted that Clinton had a 70% chance of winning (1). The discrepancy between polls and reality can be due to the silent majority within the US, showing how 47% of the US voting population support Trump’s unethical platform. As a result of this election the US has essentially been thrown back 50 years. Trump’s social platform plans on removing the rights of many minorities within the US. He is a strong supporter of traditional marriage, and believes that gay marriage should be a state-level issue, not a national issue (2). His vice president, Mike Pence, is known for his vehement hatred towards the LGBT community. He strongly supports conversion therapy, he opposes same sex marriage (he believes that marriage equality will lead to societal collapse), he believes that homosexuality is a choice, and many other terrifying opinions that will strongly affect the LGBT community (3). Trump’s other policies show his blatant racism. He plans on passing the Dakota pipeline, which would directly affect many Native American communities. The Keystone Pipeline directly violates the Laramie Treaty made in 1868 and excludes minorities from decisions that can very well ruin their lives (4). Trumps immigration policy plans on ending birthright citizenship, which in my opinion sounds very similar to the racist laws passed in Dred Scott v Sanford. In Dred Scott, the law passed stated that citizenship was a hereditary right given to a person based off of their blood, thus removing citizenship from African Americans at the time (5). Trump’s policy is also based off of hereditary citizenship, removing the rights of birthright citizens (6). This policy directly targets the many Mexican birthright citizens living in the United States today. Aside from his racist intentions, Trump plans on repealing Roe v Wade and the Affordable Care Act (4), meaning many citizens will be losing their access to free or affordable healthcare, as well as many women will be losing their reproductive rights. These four upcoming years will be marked by terror from underrepresented and commonly discriminated against groups as the US regresses back to its bigoted and dangerous past.
1 - http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/
2 - http://www.wsj.com/graphics/elections/2016/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-on-social-issues/
3 - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michelangelo-signorile/post_13213_b_12009498.html
4 - http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days
5 - https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/60/393
6 - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/17/understanding-trumps-plan-to-end-citizenship-for-undocumented-immigrants-kids/

November 13, 2016 at 8:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The significance of the 2016 election is that America is divided. It was very unexpected that Trump would win. The pollsters and media were wrong that Hillary would win in a landslide. The polls were biased, they did not poll rural America. In addition, others were embarrassed to admit that they voted for Trump because of his character. There have been many protests saying that Trump is not my president. From New York to Los Angeles, demonstrators have marched in various American cities for four nights since Trump's unexpected win Tuesday. The protests, while being mostly peaceful have resulted in blocked highways and bridges, and a few arrests during clashes with police. On early Saturday there was a shooting of a man at a march in Portland, Oregon(1). One reason why Trump won was because the small town and rural America voted for Trump. They wanted change for America regarding some of Trump's campaign issues such as the economy, immigration, and national security. Another reason why Clinton lost was because of low voter turnout. Hillary Clinton got 6 million fewer votes than Barack Obama did in 2012, and nearly 10 million fewer than he did in 2008(2). One other significance of the election is that Trump won the electoral college but Clinton won the popular vote. Many wonder if the U.S. should amend the constitution and change this. Now five times in U.S. history, in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016 the victorious candidate has won Electoral College while the loser won the popular vote(3). Speaker Paul Ryan celebrated Donald Trump’s shocking White House win and stated that the president-elect will now lead a unified Republican government(4). Many democrats are worried what the Republicans will do now with a unified government in the next four years. They will be able to pick the supreme court seat and have control of the government. With a unified government, congress will get more accomplished and should be able to avoid gridlock.

(1)http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/12/us/protests-elections-trump/index.html
(2)https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/11/10/why-did-trump-win-in-part-because-voter-turnout-plunged/
(3)http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2016-election-day/electoral-college-lesson-more-voters-chose-hillary-clinton-trump-will-n681701
(4)http://www.cbsnews.com/news/paul-ryan-donald-trump-will-lead-a-unified-republican-government/

November 13, 2016 at 11:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The 2016 election will be one that goes down in history. The results shocked America, and in the next four years or more it will be interesting to see what becomes of this country. With nearly all the polls saying the Clinton would win, it was a shock to see Donald Trump become the 45th president. The DailyMail even stated that Clinton had an 85% chance of winning the morning of the election (1). However, on reflecting on the results of this election I think it proves that Americans have continued to follow the same trends throughout history. According the National Constitutional Center, “The Democrats have failed in four of their last five attempts to win three consecutive terms in office “ (2). This reelection pattern could help explain the surprising results of the election. I think that because Trump won it shows that Americans crave change, and therefore it is inevitable that executive office will change parties every few terms. Due to this trend throughout American history, I am surprised that I didn’t honestly even consider Trump having a chance to win the election.
Not only does this election display the longtime voting habits of Americans, but I think it is also significant in that I think it will mean lots of changes in the next four years. It can be expected that a Trump administration is going to operate very differently than an Obama administration, due to their conflicting political parties. A change that is already being seen after the election is the rapid changes in the condition of the American stock market. Mullen and Egan from CNN state that “Markets hate uncertainty, and many investors believe Trump's unpredictable nature and anti-trade stance could bring global turmoil” (3). Even though Trump isn’t even office yet, the effects of his victory are already having negative consequences to the stock market. The next four years may be financially unstable because of this.
Overall, I think the next four years will be as shocking as the election itself. Only time will show truly what this election means for America and American history.


(1) http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3919098/Pollsters-kicking-getting-predictions-wrong-underestimating-white-turnout-rural-areas-overestimating-black-millennial-voters.html
(2) http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2013/01/historic-re-election-pattern-doesnt-favor-democrats-in-2016/
(3) http://money.cnn.com/2016/11/08/investing/global-markets-stocks-trump-clinton-us-presidential-election/

November 13, 2016 at 1:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It was a turn of events. Predictions of major polling sites, news stations, and a majority of the public were wrong. Many of the swing states, swung in favor of Trump. Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida, and Ohio all voted in his favor, despite Pennsylvania and Wisconsin leaning Democratic (1). With nearly all the polls being wrong, this puts the reliability of polls in question. Polls by CBS, NBC, USA Today/Suffolk, Quinnipiac, and more consistently placed Clinton as the frontrunner (2). However, they were wrong, and now pollsters are feeling the scrutiny. Many are trying to explain what went wrong, but a thorough review will take months. Pollsters are reasoning that Clinton’s lead in the popular vote was not as large as the polls suggested, so her position in the Electoral College was weaker than we thought. This is one of the common reasons, but some other attributes could be undecided/Libertarian voters switching support to Trump or the lack of women who answered the polls as favoring Trump (3). Regardless of the reason, the polls missed the mark and the methodology of the way polls are conducted is something that will carefully be examined in future polls (2).
Aside from the significance of the polls in this election, there is also the importance of the people’s response to Trump’s victory. Protests have broken out nationwide in major cities like Los Angeles, Orlando, Chicago, and Boston, as well as multiple other cities (4). One source of the anger is the fact that Clinton won the popular vote, and yet Trump won the electoral vote. The Electoral College has been a widely criticized aspect of the election process, yet it continues today from the Founding Fathers’ creation of it. Even though it has been called undemocratic, it is unlikely that it will be completely scrapped or changed due to it being a longheld institution and tradition (5)
As for the upcoming 4 years, it seems as if immigrants, women, and benefitters of government programs are in trouble. Just looking at Trump’s first 100 day plan, he plans on removing over 2 million immigrants accused of crimes as well as ending the Illegal Immigration Act(6). Not only will this mean that men and women who have established their lives here will be deported, but aliens will also lose the government aid provided by the act. Part of Trump’s reform includes offering open jobs to Americans first. While none of this seems fair to these hardworking people, if Trump has his way it will have great repercussions for them. In regards to women, Trump has said a lot, but hasn’t made any policy proposals regarding paid family leave, child care costs, or equal pay. On abortion, he has an anti-abortion stance which limits a woman’s right to an abortion (7). Just based off these issues, it’s obvious these groups of people may be losing rights. However, in addition to all this comes the overturning of many of the efforts of the Obama administration which were progressive movements that benefitted multiple groups. With policies such as these, I think the people of America will feel the backlash of his policies. The diversity of the country will be able to feel the negative outcomes of his perspective, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the country were to move backwards and stumble over the progression it has made in the last few years.


(1) http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/09/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-popular-vote/
(2) http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2016/11/09/results-call-future-political-polling-into-question/93553454/
(3) http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-polls-missed-trump-we-asked-pollsters-why/
(4) http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/12/us/protests-elections-trump/index.html
(5) http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/founding-fathers-distrusted-popular-vote-pick-president-43460929
(6) http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days
(7) http://time.com/4441052/donald-trump-women-issues/

November 13, 2016 at 4:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There are certain elections in American history that have been so momentous in changing the foundation of our country. In 1800, the electoral college system’s flaws showed, as it took 36 ballots for the House of Representatives to finally choose Thomas Jefferson as the next president. In 1824, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams, marking the first time in American history that the new president did not win the popular vote. In 1860, our country was so divided that when Abraham Lincoln won the electoral college vote, the South seceded from the Union. In 1876, a commission assigned the necessary amount of electoral votes Rutherford B. Hayes needed to win to him, in exchange for the end of Reconstruction in the South. In 1948, Harry S. Truman won reelection in what was at the time the most shocking upset in presidential history. In 2000, the Supreme Court effectively determined who the next president of the United States would be -- and this person also did not win the popular vote.


The election of 2016 joins the previously mentioned elections in American presidential election glory (or infamy). I will explain my thoughts on the significance of the election later, but I want to begin by saying that the candidates themselves were significant. The first woman to be nominated by a major party for president ran against the first major party candidate who has served neither in government or the military. In what can only be described as the most contentious and negative campaign in election history, Donald Trump was elected president, despite losing the popular vote (by a margin of almost 2 million votes). (1) It is difficult to diagnose a single cause for this shocking upset. There are many factors that contributed to the outcome of this election.


The immediate reason that Democrats could point to as to why they lost has to be voter turnout. In 2012, President Obama won with almost 66 million votes (2). This year, Hillary received almost 5 million fewer (3) This may not seem very significant, but with so many races where the difference between Clinton and Trump was 1% or less (Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, and New Hampshire), these votes are immensely important (3). The so-called “Obama coalition” simply did not turn out the same for Hillary. Hispanics, African-Americans, and millennials all voted at lower rates for Hillary than for Obama (4). After the election, Hillary placed partial blame on the loss to FBI director James Comey and his decision to reopen the investigation into her emails (5). There is a valid argument to be had there, as her poll numbers did dip following the announcement, but in reality the polls were already tightening prior to the announcement, and -- as this election showed -- interpreting polls can be very tricky. Indeed, the results of this election will impact American institutions for years to come. I will begin by discussing the election’s impact on the media.

November 13, 2016 at 4:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

(continued from post 1)

The media really poisoned the atmosphere of the election. It is remarkable how much time they spent talking about the polls, pathways to 270 electoral votes, comments made by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton; it was so sickening as a viewer. For the past year and a half, I have kept up to date on the election by watching CNN almost every day. I am hard pressed to find a time when CNN was discussing the proposed policies of Donald Trump as opposed to some fleeting comment he made about Hillary Clinton, or how his comments on women will affect his poll numbers; the list goes on and on. The media seriously needs to stop promoting their horse race agenda, and I strongly believe that if the media had focused more on the policies of the two candidates, Hillary would have won. In fact, it is because the media focused on the “horse race” so much that the result was so shocking. An article released by Real Clear Politics explains that pundits grossly misinterpreted polling to conclude time and time again that Donald Trump had no plausible path to the presidency. There was simply too much emphasis on past presidential races when making conjectures about the election. Real Clear Politics takes averages of polls, and when looking at the averages the end results in some swing states are not that shocking. For example, Donald Trump was down only 3.4 points in Michigan and 1.9 points in Pennsylvania -- slim margins that meant that Trump could easily win those states (which he did) (6). The media needs to reconsider its emphasis on horse race and discuss more about policy.


Although it may be unlikely that the media will change its habits (because discussing the Trump tape garners far more interest than a policy speech by Clinton on renewable energy, for example), it is similarly unlikely that our presidential election system will change too. For the fourth time in our history, the candidate that has won the popular vote has lost the electoral college (7). The electoral college system is a flawed, antiquated system. States with small populations are overrepresented, and the electoral college was created primarily to allow wealthy elites more power in choosing the president. Since voters today have many resources by which they can inform themselves about the candidates, the reasons the electoral college was created in the first place are irrelevant. Furthermore, many states bind their electors to cast ballots for the candidate that won the popular vote of their state, therefore minimizing the possibility of “faithless electors” throwing the election to a different candidate (8). I believe that the electoral college is on its last legs, and this election may be the tipping point.

November 13, 2016 at 4:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

(continued from post 2)

Finally, I will discuss the impacts of a Trump administration on America. The turn of events on Democrats is truly spectacular; they were supposed to maintain their hold on the White House, win the Senate, and make significant gains in the House of Representatives. Instead, Republicans now control the legislative, executive, and (by extension) judicial branches. Late night comedian Stephen Colbert described this turn of events perfectly: “It’s like the GOP got caught in a plunging elevator -- and they all fell screaming ten stories down and then landed gently to have the doors open on a candy store where everything’s free.” (9) Indeed, they can now appoint another conservative justice to the Supreme Court, and with two liberal justices over 78 years of age, Trump may flip two Supreme Court justice seats from liberal to conservative in his tenure in office (10) This will affect how our country operates in regards to reproductive rights, gay marriage, healthcare, privacy, campaign finance, etc. The new justices Trump appoints will shift the Court’s balance of power, keeping whatever policies Trump initiates as the law of the land for a generation. The impacts of our unitary government go beyond the Supreme Court. Massive tax cuts can now be put in place; there can be increased spending on the military and border security; climate change will be ignored; military aggression will be more profound in regards to ISIS; and above all, Obamacare can be repealed. The bottom line is that everything Obama has done in his eight years in office can now be undone, which to me is a horrifying thought.


This election was truly remarkable. The ensuing riots and protests that have followed prove the overall significance of this election: that our country is divided, and we care little about the morals of our presidential candidates. CNN political commentator Van Jones described this perfectly: “You tell your kids ‘don’t be a bully.’ You tell your kids ‘don’t be a bigot.’ You tell your kids to ‘do your homework, and be prepared.’ And then you have this outcome.” (11) For many minorities affected by Trump’s disparaging comments, the next four years may be extremely difficult; for children across America, they are being taught that what Trump has said and done can be condoned. This election is a stain on American history.


(1) http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-popular-vote-victory_us_5827a2c5e4b02d21bbc91bbc
(2) http://www.cnn.com/election/2012/results/main/
(3) http://www.cnn.com/election/results
(4) http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/presidential/Exit-polls-Blacks-Hispanics-and-millennials-less-passionate-for-Clinton-.html
(5) http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/13/us/politics/hillary-clinton-james-comey.html
(6)http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/11/12/it_wasnt_the_polls_that_missed_it_was_the_pundits_132333.html
(7) http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/9/13572112/trump-popular-vote-loss
(8) https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/electors.html
(9) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evVKFFL1iTs&t=22s
(10) http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/11/donald-trump-wins-supreme-court-214449
(11)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA9aSvHzEIU


November 13, 2016 at 4:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Clearly, the election did not go as I would say most people had expected. It looked like Hillary would win by a notable margin -- based upon the polls (1). This goes to the show that the polls didn't necessarily covered the average voter. Many polls were conducted upon people who owned a landline. Landlines aren't exactly a staple in the American household anymore due to the advent of cell phones. As such, polls given over-the-phone aren't necessarily going to reach the majority of younger voters. In fact, the election was so close that even with the polls, it might have been practically a coin flip. Looking at the exit polls, we can see that the division between men and women, whites and non-whites, LGBT and non-LGBT, Educated and non-educated. What we see is that that the political atmosphere of the U.S. is very very polarized and actually quite a bit more polarized than in 2012 where more of the issues asked in the polls had a very clear winner and a very clear loser in those polls (4). However, comparatively speaking more of the polls were closer to 50-50 in 2016. Interestingly enough, many republican voters answered that someone outside of the political hierarchy of Washington was what they wanted. This goes to show that a fair number of people who may have been independant might have voted Trump just to get someone new in the presidency. Basically, what this comes down to is that polls done before the election must be taken with a grain of salt as unless the medium by which the poll is given covers the absolute maximum number of people even if not everyone takes the poll. Another significant point of the election is that one cannot underestimate the power of small states due to the way the electoral college works. Thus, the 3 main things to take away is that 1: polls aren't necessarily accurate, 2: people want different ideas in the presidency, and 3: the electoral college favors the candidates who have the support of small states.

1) http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/13/upshot/putting-the-polling-miss-of-2016-in-perspective.html?_r=0
2) https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/exit-polls/
3) qz.com/836079/mark-zuckerberg-says-fake-news-on-facebook-could-not-have-influenced-the-2016-election-of-donald-trump/
4) http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/results/president/exit-polls

November 13, 2016 at 5:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well, he won. Over the past few days these words have brought about feelings of either satisfaction or ( for most of us) shock, disbelief, anger and grief. There have been protests, walkouts, classroom debates and twitter rants. There have been cries of revolt and solidarity, of acceptance and refusal. Tuesday evening, some of the most trusted networks predicted a win for Clinton. TIME magazine had already made their cover to celebrate Clinton as the new presidential elect. What happened that night was unprecedented, it was unexpected, and for some it still hasn’t sunk in. There are many things that are significant about this election. First, is the immediate reaction: since election night there have been anti-Trump protests in Manhattan, Los Angeles, Portland, San Francisco and Oakland (1) (2). Secondly, is the number of silent/non-voters in this election. Only fifty-seven percent of eligible voters cast their ballot (3). Too many Americans did not exercise their right to vote that day, either out of fear, indecisiveness or apathy etc. Whatever the reason, their silence has altered America’s future, our future, for the next four years. Thirdly, this election has raised a new question: “Where do I belong in this new America?” This question especially plagues the minds of women, minorities, immigrants and those belonging to the lgbt+ community. These next four years will bring about a new mindset to Americans, a change in our view of the government and how it will help/protect us and a change in how the world sees us. How our new president deals with foreign policy (both peaceful and), immigration, and healthcare will create results that will affect us for the next four years, and after that. As we go into Trump’s term we will see a significant amount of change, whether we let that change divide or unify us is, I think, will be the biggest factor in how we live through these next four years.


http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/13/us/protests-elections-trump/index.html
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/New-anti-Trump-protests-set-for-S-F-Oakland-10610396.php
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/voter-turnout-fell-especially-in-states-that-clinton-won/

November 13, 2016 at 6:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

First off(like most of the people I know) I was shocked at the result of this election, because fivethirtyeight.com gave Clinton a 70%+ chance of winning the election(1). Overall, their are a couple of important impacts of this election. The first impact is that:this election showcases deep racial, social,and economic divides in America(2). The next impact of this election is: it shows that the American people want change desperately. As a result, the American people decided to elect a politcal outsider, who is corrupt and has been cited for being racist and sexist on several accounts(2,watch the video at the top of the article). The third impact of this election is that America is heading to a uncertain future with a President- elect that doesn't have any definite policies. Furthermore, the article "Is Donald Trump already walking away from campaign promises?" on Cnn.com states that" President-elect Donald Trump signaled Friday that he was open to keeping parts of Obamacare open despite repeatedly vowing on the campaign trail to" repeal and replace the program""(3). This shows the idea the Trump can and will change his policies, which could have drastic effects on the American people.So, as far as a conclusion goes; I feel that the American people have wrongly elected an inexperienced, racist, and sexist candidate for president, which will lead to an uncertain outcome. Finally, I believe that Trump being in office is going to have serious setbacks for people of minorities(like me), and as a result we'll(non-causcasins) just have to ride the waves of Trump Presidency;even through he should not have gotten as far as he did.



Sources:
1. http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/?ex_cid=rrpromo
2. http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/13/politics/donald-trump-lessons/index.html
3. http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/12/politics/donald-trump-campaign-promises/index.html

November 13, 2016 at 6:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The results of the election were both shocking and fascinating. How is it that a man who is on tape for more or less approving the sexual mistreatment of women could be elected to arguably the most important position in the whole world? Many people have taken to the streets in protest of the president elect (1). We are on day five of these protests. Needless to say the country is terribly divided with anti-Trump supporters calling his election a backlash of White-Males against an increasingly PC society. I completely disagree with this. First of all, it’s impossible for him to win on the white vote alone. He had to earn more votes than just this in order to win. To build on this, Trump had 90% of all college educated women votes compared to Clinton’s 10% (2). Though Trump did do will with the lower educated, white areas than Romney did in 2012 (3), what most likely got him the edge he needed was a Conservative backlash, not a race one. There is a significant pattern throughout US history where it’s hard for one party to hold office for more than 2 terms. This tends to be because people get fed up with the government and want a drastic change (4). What this means for America is that even though many people still consider themselves moderate, people are probably a little more rightwing moderate than purely middle grounded. Beyond reading into the mindset of voters, it’s hard to know what the next four years will hold. All we know is that it’ll be “Tremendous” and “Heuj.”


1:)https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/11/10/not-my-president-thousand-protest-trump-in-rallies-across-the-u-s/
2:) Sunday’s 60 minutes episode which I’m watching right now (it’s not a super great source, which is why I have 4)
3)http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/where-trump-got-his-edge/
4)http://www.historyextra.com/article/bbc-history-magazine/donald-trump-elected-president-historical-significance-historian-verdict

November 13, 2016 at 6:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The 2016 election means many things for the country. One reason Trump won was because of the polls. The polls showed Clinton having a much higher chance of winning than Trump. This means that many Clinton supporters had a false sense of security and may have decided not to vote. Another reason Trump won was because he was an outsider. Trump had never held a political position, and that may be why he won so many votes. Clinton was a politician and had experience, but many people lacked trust in her. Many people were sick of corrupt candidates, and didn't want someone like Clinton, who was being investigated by the FBI, as president (1). Trump was not a typical candidate, and many people liked that. Trump's presidency will mean a stricter stance on immigration. His plan on immigration has been seen as morally unacceptable and radical by many, but could actually have a positive influence on the economy (2). Open immigration would mean distribution of wealth from employees to employers. The higher number of immigrants means lower wage for workers. The money not spent on the employees wages is profit for the employer (3). Trump's immigration plan will help the american working class, but will also upset many people who do not approve of his radical plans.

1. http://www.hoover.org/research/why-trump-won
2. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/donald-trumps-10-point-immigration-plan/
3. http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/trump-clinton-immigration-economy-unemployment-jobs-214216

November 13, 2016 at 6:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The results of the 2016 election were a complete shock to our entire nation, even supporters of Donald Trump did not expect the outcome. Clinton was expected to win the election, I remember fivethirtyeight.com giving her over a seventy percent chance of winning based off of the polls, but somehow Donald Trump pulled off a victory. The results of the election have evoked fear for many minorities in the country, and I hope that Trump will find a way to make amends for the things he said during his campaign. The next four years are going to be very interesting, but also very difficult for Democrats, due to the Republican majority in Congress, and a Republican as president. This Republican majority may mean that all of the progress that was made during the Obama administration towards civil rights may be halted, but hopefully not over ruled. According to an article on the Huffington Post the results of the election have highlighted how sharply divided our country is (1). If you look at the electoral map you can see the east and west coasts were very blue, and the rest of the country was almost all red. This illustrates how divided our country has become, and it raises concerns for the next four years, and even future elections. According to the same article it is clear that people value the problems Trump addressed in his campaign, but it’s difficult to see anything changing or being solved in the next four years due to Trump’s lack of political experience, and he has not come up with realistic ways to address these problems. The future of the military is also a concern for Trump’s presidency. According to an article in the Financial Times (2) Trump is the first president to be elected without any previous military experience. Personally it scares me knowing that our nation’s new commander in chief does not have any experience, and I think it could lead to unnecessary conflict abroad, and could possibly be dangerous for our troops. Overall whatever happens in the next four years will most likely be very unexpected just like Trump’s victory. According to an article on CNN even Trump does not know what to expect with his presidency. His lack of experience, and unclear policy plans raise concern in my mind for what the next four years will look like, but like many others I am trying come to terms with the fact, and trying to keep an open mind because he will be our president for the next four years.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/teaching-election-2016-th_b_12945742.html
https://www.ft.com/content/d4ac0a5a-a7f8-11e6-8898-79a99e2a4de6
http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/12/politics/donald-trump-white-house/index.html




November 13, 2016 at 7:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This was a historical election for the United States. Before the results were even in, I knew that millions of Americans were sure to gather around the TV anxiously while they were rooting for their candidate. I am disappointed, shocked and mostly frustrated at the outcome. It was the first election I could legally participate in, and I had been looking forward to this moment for such a long time. Things were looking up for Clinton, she seemed to be ahead in the polls and in my opinion she “won” the debates. With Trump’s sexual assault and fraud scandals, I was absolutely sure that Clinton would win in a landslide. Even before results began to reveal, my family’s dinner conversation consisted of excitement and suggestions of going to the inauguration to witness the historic moment. The night began going in a downward spiral as trump won battleground states. I went to bed a few hours before the president elect was announced; I was hopeless and fearful for our nation. I woke up with heavy heart, as the feeling I once feared for so many groups and communities was real. This election could potentially put many groups in danger such as minorities, women, lgbtq members, etc. This election means that (1) economically, Trump is focusing on tax cuts that supposedly help the middle class and the poor, but in depth the cuts would mostly benefit the rich. This election will also change things for undocumented immigrants, or people planning to migrate into the US. (2) Trump blatantly states on his own website that he wants to decrease the amount of immigrants into the united states, and ban immigrants coming from countries that are “unsafe”, but offers no explanation or plan that differentiates between what is considered “safe” and “unsafe”. He also states that we will build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, and in bold red letters so nobody misses it, he states that Mexico will build it. Because apparently everyone was wondering. As for women’s reproductive rights, (3) Trump opposes it and says he plans to appoint supreme court justices that wish to overturn Roe v. Wade. These are just a few of the things Trump wishes to see for his nation. This election is more than his policies, his opinions and his childish rhetoric that he uses to ingrain fear and paranoia into the most privileged citizens who naturally benefit most from society, and won’t have to worry about Trump’s presidency drastically changing their lives. Millions of people fear deportation, the normalization of sexual assault, the normalization racism, and the fact that their world could be turned upside down. People are protesting, speaking out and fighting for their rights, while the economically and socially privileged think that they are being over dramatic about an election. This was much more than just the average democrat v. republican election. For many, this election was deal breaker of whether or not their lives could be put in serious jeopardy. This election already divided a nation, increased hate crimes, and have caused many to completely reevaluate a nation, a nation where near half of eligible voters are numb to the fact that our future president is literally endorsed by the KKK, and has done nothing denounce that. I truly hope that our nation will find a way to come together, wake up, and change the way certain groups are being treated.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/11/09/the-biggest-questions-about-donald-trumps-plan-for-america/
https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/immigration
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/us/politics/donald-trump-twitter-white-house.html

November 13, 2016 at 7:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

On Tuesday night, when it was officially announced that Donald Trump was the President elect, millions of hearts across America and the globe shattered. There will be many repercussions from this election, some of which have already been taking shape, such as the protests against Trump and the spike in hate crimes since Tuesday (1). The election of Trump has already proven to increase the polarization of the different political views in the United States, and it can only be assumed it will increase as he comes into the presidency.
Trump’s platform in his campaign has been one based on conservative ideals. A staple of his campaign was his stance on abortion. Trump has repeatedly stated that he is pro-life and will be appointing Supreme Court Justices that are pro-life in order to overturn Roe v. Wade (2). This is a scary thought for many American women, who have currently have a right to their bodies and control over what happens to them which could be taken away due to Trump. A major reason Trump was liked by his supporters was his business prowess and experience, though they did seem to overlook his 4-6 bankruptcies. His business experience has caused many to believe he will reform the economy, such as creating new regulations for banking or getting rid of many regulations for businesses (3). However, contrary to what Trump has said, there is evidence that success in his campaign could lead to a volatile economy and lower stock prices overall, which would be a move in the wrong direction for the economy (4). Estimates ranged from a 3-6 percent drop if Trump got elected, and the results speak for themselves (4). A major change to the American political system could also come out of this election. This is the second time in 16 years that the candidate with the most total votes, or the popular vote, did not win the electoral college. This has been a cause for great upset and has brought into question the validity of the electoral college. Maybe by this time in four years, the electoral college could be vastly different or even removed from the election system all together.
One thing can be certain about the results of this election: the human rights strides this country has made in the last eight years will be slowed and/or stopped once Trump is sworn into office. Many minority groups such as African Americans, Hispanic people, the LGBT community, and women are afraid for Trump to be president, which says a lot about what his campaign was based on and what his presidency will hold. The rise in hate crimes since his win cannot be ignored (1). The racial and socioeconomic divides in this country are higher than they have been in a long time and Trump’s campaign thus far has done nothing to bridge that gap. In fact, there is a lot of evidence that he would rather build a wall between this great division than a bridge.
1-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-rowe/why-hasnt-donald-trump-de_b_12916046.html
2-http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/19/trump-ill-appoint-supreme-court-justices-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-abortion-case.html
3-http://www.forbes.com/sites/franksorrentino/2016/11/10/the-path-ahead-what-the-2016-election-results-might-mean-for-banking/#4429445672b9
4-http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/08/upshot/what-the-election-means-for-the-markets.html?_r=0

November 13, 2016 at 8:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This election is no doubt one that will go down in history. It is not an exaggeration to claim that an overwhelming amount of people, not only in this country but in many others that may also be affected by this decision feel upset and dismayed. A man thought of as nothing more than an arrogant reality television star has prevailed over the electoral vote and will be assuming presidency starting January 2017. (1) The Street claims that although Trump has been a successful business owner in the past, his promises to the United States would cost the government big time. His immigration plan is estimated to cost $400-600 billion and reduce the labor force by over 11 million workers. Even if he claimed that he could carry out his scheme in 18 months, the realistic time span predicted is 20 years. There would be a sharp drop in workers in the farm industry, causing an increase in prices of food. (2) It is a fact that his presidency won't only affect the United States, but countries that we have ties with and others around the world. CNN states that our ties with Britain will be sullied due to Trump's proposed trade ideas. (3) It is also predicted that Trump's presidency will have a detrimental to the environment. He stated that not only climate change was a hoax made up by the Chinese, but that he plans to scrap all the major regulations made by Obama in the last 8 years. He plans out pull the United States out of the Paris climate deal and eliminate the clean power plan. With the environment already becoming worse and worse, it is terrifying to think what would happen to it under Trump's power. In my opinion, this election has portrayed how the electoral college works and ultimately just how much America screwed up this time. I honestly hope the wholly Republican House and Senate will do their part to put reasonable checks on what Trump says he wants to accomplish in the next four years.

(1) https://www.thestreet.com/story/13335121/2/if-donald-trump-was-president-here-s-what-would-happen-to-the-u-s-economy.html
(2) http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/09/opinions/will-trump-keep-special-relationship-alive-merrick-opinion/
(3) http://www.vox.com/2016/11/9/13571318/donald-trump-disaster-climate

November 13, 2016 at 8:30 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In this election is was favored that Hillary Clinton would win. I predicted in the last blog post that Donald Trump would win, I was a little surprised when he did. I thought this election would be close but in the end Hillary Clinton would win. On election night I was waiting for when Hillary Clinton would get ahead in the electoral college. When Pennsylvania turned red I was a little surprised, yet pleased. Being a Republican myself, it was nice to see a Republican in the lead. I am not saying I'm a supporter of Donald Trump, I am saying with the way America is right now it may be hard for the Republicans to be heard in the near future, for America is becoming more and more Democratic. I understand why many have voted for Donald Trump. (1) “They don’t want the Clinton legacy to continue” also he knows how to make deals that will “make America prosperous again.” What I think is in store for America is a lot of change such as, (2) There will be a bigger regulation on illegal immigrants. Also the future of the Government is going to be extremely conservative, with pro-life supreme court judges that will defend the 2nd amendment. (3) There will be less watch on the climate change, he wants to get rid of the Clean Power Plan and bring back the coal industry. Honestly all we have seen is all the bad things that Donald Trump has done whether it is from the media or said by Hillary Clinton. Who knows America just might thrive under Mr. Trump.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/09/why-did-people-vote-for-donald-trump-us-voters-explain
http://www.bbc.com/news/election-us-2016-37969112
http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trumps-climate-change-hit-list-519904

November 13, 2016 at 8:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Shocking. The entire campaign has been chaotic and bizzare, and the election seemed to follow suit. Trump, underestimated from the second he said he was running for president, won in the election where he won every state he needed to win. In some projections Clinton was supposed to win by over 150 electoral votes, but somehow Trump found a way to win every major swing state, including some states that were not supposed to be close to moving over to the republican side. There can be a lot taken away from this election. First of all, it shows that the working class, especially in rural areas have not felt like their voices have been heard the past 8 years. According to Trump when referring to this working class, "The forgotten men and women in this country will be forgotten no longer" (1). This rural working class was the biggest in percentage of the Trump supporters, and without them, Trump would never been elected. It also has shown the political and cultural divide in this country. Clinton won 2/3 of the Asian and Latino voters and 90% of African American voters, but still lost the election (2). This demonstrated that while minority voters all stand with one party, the other can still win. With the Trump victory, there has been rioting by Clinton supporters, and Trump supporters have been inciting violence through racial slurs and personal attacks. All of this points to the growing hostility between different groups of people. Finally it shows that Trump is still going to have to negociate with the republicans in the House of Representatives and Senate to push his agenda. Based on the release of Trump's 100 day plan and Mitch O'Connell's reaction, there are a few things that they agree on, and somethings they don't. O'Connell stated that while repealing Obamacare is important, he does not care about his congressional term limit idea, and that Trump's infrastructure plans were "not a top priority"(3). This indicates that Trump and Congress are going to have to have a major discussion on what is going to get passed. This is what this election has told us about the country, and the future of what is to come.
1)http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/first-read-how-rural-america-fueled-trump-s-win-n681316
2)http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/how-2016-election-exposed-america-s-racial-cultural-divides-n682306
3)http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days

November 13, 2016 at 9:05 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This election result surprised many people across the country, and for a good reason: every poll out there underestimated Trump's chances of winning. Going into election day, most people felt reasonably sure that Clinton would win. The magazine Newsweek already had an issue ready to go that declared "Madam President" on the front cover. Even FiveThirtyEight, a source which gave Trump the highest chance of winning, only gave him a 29 percent chance (1). The closeness of this election showed me how divided our country still is and how polarized of a nation we have become. In class, we have discussed how our electorate has become more and more moderate, but about 27 percent of our country voted for a person who uses extreme rhetoric and takes extreme positions on many issues -- 27 percent because only about 55 percent of eligible voters took part in this election (2). In earlier blog posts, I have wondered if that because this was such a contentious election, if more people would get out and vote. However, this prediction proved to be wrong. I'm sure more polls will be sent out in the near future, asking people why they did not participate in this election, and I am certain that one reason that will be near the top is that people did not like either candidate for president, and so they did not see a reason to vote. Many people either disliked Trump for his harsh language and political inexperience or disliked Hillary for her past behavior and political record. I think one significance of this election is that is shows that political parties need to reevaluate how they choose their nominees for president. In this election, both parties ended up with a nominee that were widely disliked, probably more than any other in the past. I think that both parties will be making many internal changes during the next four years. I think it also shows how many people have felt dissatisfied with our government during the last eight years and that they want a change. In terms of what this election means for the U.S., I think it means that the future of our country is uncertain and scary. The President-elect has made some very bold statements on what he would like to do in his first 100 days in office, which include: a Constitutional amendment to create term limits for Congress (although he will not be able to do that by himself), renegotiate NAFTA or withdraw from it, allow the Keystone Pipeline project to move forward, start the deportation process of deporting millions of illegal immigrants, and repealing and replacing Obamacare (3). He also wants to reverse historic Supreme Court cases that help protect the rights of minorities and the LGBT community. All of these things that Trump wishes to do are highly controversial and will take longer than I think he anticipates. His plans for the future are insecure and ever changing and I think that means that our country will hang in the balance for the next 4 years. Trump will work his hardest to implement his own policies, while millions will support him and millions will fight back against him. Who our country becomes and how it evolves in the next four years will ultimately depend on how our country as a whole reacts to these new changes.


(1) http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-fivethirtyeight-gave-trump-a-better-chance-than-almost-anyone-else/
(2) http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/13/politics/donald-trump-lessons/index.html
(3) http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days




November 13, 2016 at 9:25 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Donald Trump's unexpected election last Tuesday is a nightmare for practically every minority in the United States, including people of color, Muslims, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and women. Trump's campaign was founded on demeaning and demonizing entire groups of people and it's mind blowing that someone who says such hateful things, along with having an active sexual assault case, can be elected president. The immediate implications of this election are that the way polls are operated and produced needs to be reevaluated, and that America is deeply divided. Practically every major poll, from CNN to The New York Times to Five Thirty Eight predicted a Clinton win (1). The Huffington Post even gave Clinton a 98% chance of winning (1). The fact that Trump won the electoral college by a rather large amount shows that the current polling system is deeply flawed.
This election also shows that America is divided. Trump won the electoral college but lost the popular vote, which shows that he won more small states than Clinton. Trump also won every subgroup of white voters except college educated white women, which gave him a major advantage in rural counties and small states (2). But, Trump lost every racial minority, often by 20 percentage points or more (2). This shows the divide between America's white population and its minority population.
Looking towards the next four years and beyond, Trump's election will likely bring this country backwards to the time when LGBTQ+ people had no protections, Roe v. Wade hadn't happened, and racial minorities faced much more discrimination. As Trump's 100 day plan emphasizes, he hopes to eliminate the progress for minorities such as LGBTQ+ people that was made under Obama (3). It's possible that the Supreme Court case that allowed gay marriage could be overruled, along with many other protections for LGBTQ+ people that Obama made (3). Trump's election is the worst case scenario for many minorities, and his election is going to halt all social progress this country has made.



(1) http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/upshot/presidential-polls-forecast.html
(2)

November 13, 2016 at 10:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think that the future of America is uncertain. I feel very pessimistic about what is going to happen for the next 4 years, but I do want to give Trump and Pence the benefit of the doubt and give them a chance to do what they do. I personally don’t think that he will be able to “fix” the economy as he claims he will. I want to see him jump start our GDP, and I will give him an opportunity to prove that he can do that. When it comes to social issues I think that this is where we can really get in trouble. I think that Trump, Pence, and the majority in both houses will do what they can to make social issues fall more in line with the Republican point of view. For some this can be really bad. For some this could be the end of life as they know it, but for people like me being white, middle class, male, and straight, I don’t think this presidency will affect me too much, but I do hope for those who may be hurt by his presidency will be okay. I am kinda curious to what Trump will do on banking. I am not fully informed on this issue but I found out that this is one of the things he will change. I am not sure what he is going to do with the banks and it does make me kinda nervous that he has had bankruptcy in the past and am a little worried for what he will do there. I don’t have very high hopes for the future and don’t think that trump will do a good job as a president, but I will give him a chance to prove me wrong.




http://www.forbes.com/sites/franksorrentino/2016/11/10/the-path-ahead-what-the-2016-election-results-might-mean-for-banking/#619d572f72b9
http://beefmagazine.com/blog/president-trump-what-does-election-result-mean-going-forward
http://www.usnews.com/news/economy/articles/2016-11-10/americas-economic-future-now-in-the-hands-of-donald-trump

November 13, 2016 at 11:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I forgot to paste my other two sources oops

(2) http://www.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls
(3) http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/how-trump-s-100-day-action-plan-could-impact-lgbtq-n682786

November 14, 2016 at 7:25 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The results of this election are shocking, to say the least. One of the most significant parts was that almost all of the polls predicted a win for Hillary Clinton [1], and that didn’t happen. One of the main reasons for the disagreement between the polls and the actual result was the fact that white women voted for Trump and he also had enough support from people of color to gain an advantage [2]. Another part was that the media economy now doesn’t favor field reporting as much, so we get less coverage about what people actually think and why they think that from personal conversations and more of their opinions on simply worded questions in polls. Another significant thing about this election is that our new president-elect is someone who has never held political office or served our country [3]. Every president before Trump has either been in the military or served in public office for at least two years, most having eight or more years of experience. This will definitely be a change because Trump doesn’t exactly know how to act as a member of the political side of society and may not have the right judgement for the job.
These results mean a lot of things for the next four years. First, immigrants will be affected, especially Muslim immigrants. There has been a lot of fear, even around the world that Trump will wage war on Muslim countries [4]. People across the seas are scared to come to America now. There have also been hate crimes against American Muslim women, especially those wearing the hijab [5]. People of the LGBT+ community will also be affected. Our new vice president is one who believes in conversion therapy which leads to higher suicide rates. He would rather have a dead child than a gay one. They are also worried that Trump will appoint conservative justices that will repeal the same-sex marriage decision [6]. If Obamacare is repealed, transgender people may have the protection from health care discrimination taken away, which is also scary for these people. A Trump presidency will not only affect Muslims and LGBT+ people but also all minorities and women.


[1]http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/?ex_cid=rrpromo
[2]http://www.npr.org/2016/11/12/501853647/how-were-the-polls-so-wrong
[3]http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/11/13587532/donald-trump-no-experience
[4]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3919356/Im-afraid-Muslim-shock-Trump-heads-victory.html
[5]http://www.npr.org/2016/11/12/501853599/what-its-like-to-be-an-american-muslim-after-trumps-election
[6]http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/11/politics/trump-victory-lgbt-concerns/

November 14, 2016 at 8:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

November 14, 2016 at 4:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

One of the main things that this election shows are the values that Americans hold, and what they believe about government. The main thing that is proved by Trump's victory is that many Americans are extremely distrustful or dissatisfied with the way that the government is run. [1] This is well shown throughout the Rust Belt. Trump appealed to workers' concerns that they are losing their place in the world, and that the government isn't doing enough to help them and their jobs. [2] This appeal to nationalism is likely what won him the industry based workers who fear for their jobs, especially as companies move around the world. However, a darker idea that has been proved is the fact that many Americans support or are willing to overlook an endless amount of racist, xenophobic, and sexist remarks [3] in favor of a "stronger economy;" one that has already been proved implausible under President-elect Trump's current plan. [4]
What this means for America in the coming years is dire in my opinion. While Trump may succeed in bringing a better economy, [5] he will have an awful effect on social issues. His rhetoric has already incited hate crimes against minorities across the country, even within Minnesota. [6] In March he released his plans to defund Planned Parenthood if they continue to perform abortions, which won him support among the pro-life community, and his running mate has said the Roe v. Wade will be sent to "the ash heaps of history." [7] While Trump claims that he does not wish to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges, his list for Supreme Court nominations indicate otherwise, as it includes noted anti-gay justices. [8] However his chosen Vice President is behind some of the most discriminatory and hateful acts against LGBTQ people. For example, he signed the "religious liberties bill" that allowed businesses to turn away gay people. [9] Most horrifyingly, Pence advocated for government funded conversion therapy. [10] Pence has also recently confirmed that a Trump presidency will see an end to Obama's transgender bathroom protections as well as his birth control mandate. [11] All of these plans will bring social issues back decades, and the strides that have been made under the Obama administration will be largely reversed.


Sources:
1.http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2016/11/09/exit-polls-numbers-trump-capitalizing-dissatisfaction/93500118/
2.https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/11/09/the-rust-belt-was-turning-red-already-donald-trump-just-pushed-it-along/
3.http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/trump-biggest-fatal-gaffes-mistakes-offensive-214289
4.http://www.timesofisrael.com/hundreds-of-prominent-us-economists-warn-against-voting-trump/
5.http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/09/donald-trumps-impact-on-the-economy.html
6.http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/us/post-election-hate-crimes-and-fears-trnd/
7. http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/02/politics/donald-trump-planned-parenthood-good-work/
8.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-same-sex-marriage_us_5829c604e4b02d21bbc97d2a
9.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mike-pence-assault-lgbtq-equality_us_58275a17e4b02d21bbc8ff9b
10.http://www.politifact.com/california/statements/2016/jul/28/gavin-newsom/true-mike-pence-advocated-conversion-therapy/
11.http://www.inquisitr.com/3698135/mike-pence-confirms-trump-presidency-will-abolish-birth-control-mandate-and-transgender-bathroom-protection/


November 14, 2016 at 4:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The results of the 2016 election certainly shocked the world, with most Americans and foreign observers favoring Hillary Clinton as the new President of the United States. For one thing, I think that this election may be a major impetus that finally causes the downfall of the Electoral College, an institution that has been in place since the founders wrote the Constitution. Donald Trump is the fourth presidential candidate in history to win the presidential election by winning the Electoral College but without winning the popular vote (behind Bush, Harrison, and Tilden) (1). Although this situation has occurred four times before, this most recent election may prove to bear the strongest calls for reform of the bunch, with the Electoral College receiving strong criticisms from political figures such as the considerably popular Senator Bernie Sanders (2).
This strong outcry seems to be for two reasons. First, this kind of discrepancy between the popular vote and the vote from the electoral college has happened twice in the last 16 years with the previous instance occurring over one hundred years before the Bush-Gore election (1). This evident and recent recurrence has really been compelling both ordinary citizens and government officials to reevaluate the Electoral College. Another reason for the recent huge cries for change is the extreme dislike of Trump by a large amount of the American population. It has currently been six days after Trump’s election and anti-Trump protests are still raging on across the country (3). This extreme opposition to Trump’s presidency has left many wondering how such a candidate could possibly be elected president, especially considering that he did not win the popular vote.
Another implication that I believe this election will have on the country over the next four years is revealing the deep growing divides between the American people. It seems more than ever that the candidate you side with defines who you are as a person. This election has definitely proved this point. Trump supporters are called racist bigots, Clinton supporters labeled ignorant anti-Americans. Political ideologies are no longer a separate party of one’s life, it seems they are now a part of one’s personality. This is dividing American citizens more than ever, Democrats versus Republicans, liberals versus conservatives. I think that these issues will definitely be addressed in the next four years out of necessity to the people and the growing of the United States.
(1)http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-electoral-college-20161110-story.html
(2)http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-electoral-college_us_582a0033e4b0c4b63b0db33a
(3)http://www.cbsnews.com/news/anti-trump-protests-not-letting-up-for-sixth-straight-day-after-presidential-election/

November 14, 2016 at 8:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Donald Trump’s winning of the 2016 election was definitely a shock to the world. It was significant because it brings speculations to the electoral college and it also has caused major backlash throughout many major cities (1). Donald Trump was known to be extreme on his views of immigration and degrading towards women, these are some of the causes of the protests that have been going on in the major cities. Donald Trump winning also call into question whether or not the electoral college is the correct way to elect America’s president because Hillary Clinton won the popular vote (2). I think this means there will be a lot of changes in the United States because of the changes that will be made for the supreme court. He plans to have a majority of pro-life judges (30).


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/11/13/protests-sunday-donald-trump-president/93769564/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/11/13/sanders-backs-trump-protests-questions-electoral-college/93767186/
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/trump-talks-us-mexico-wall-appointing-pro-life-justice-w450254

November 15, 2016 at 10:32 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This election will be big league significant for many years to come. The election of Trump against the what the pollsters said has called into question the efficacy of our polling, and the complete take over of government by the Republicans has thrown the Democratic party into disarray. People are protesting the results of this election and for the fourth time in American history the President has been elected with a minority of the vote [1]. First of all I am disappointed by the results of this election I had hoped that Hillary could win and carry on all the good work President Obama was doing. Also, I feel that Trump does not have the experience, integrity, and frankly the intelligence to run this country. I also disagree with not only almost all his proposals but also the proposals a now unified Republican government might pass. I also feel that this election has provided another example of why the electoral college must be repealed. It is an old and archaic system that does not accurately show the way of the people. But Trump has won in our current system of government and as much as I do not like him I accept that he is President. However, I disagree completely with the idea that we need to "give Trump a chance" [2]. First of all, just because a President has won an election does not give him the right to go unopposed, especially considering that a majority of Americans did not vote for him. If you disagree with Trump's policies you have to continue to oppose those policies. You can not be expected to abandon your beliefs because of whose in charge. Second, giving Trump a chance normalizes him and he is a highly abnormal candidate and President. He has no experience and his campaign has been run on fear and intolerance with racist rhetoric and aggression. He is not a normal President and we can not forget that. I, like most people, hope that his presidency will not be a disaster and that he will abandon many of his ridiculous campaign promises but if he does not I am not going to just sit back and let him pass legislation that I fundamentally disagree with.
The results of this election will have many impacts on the future of the US. Trump plans to repeal many environmental regulations as well as cancel payments for UN climate change programs [3]. This will put the environment in jeopardy. Also, Trump will appoint 1 Supreme Court Justice and most likely 2 or 3 more. That means Donald Trump will shape the Supreme court for a large part of my adult life. Another impact of this election is that our polling procedures will be changed.

[1]http://www.factcheck.org/2008/03/presidents-winning-without-popular-vote/
[2]https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/11/11/do-not-give-donald-trump-a-chance-he-has-not-earned/
[3]http://www.npr.org/2016/11/10/501597652/fact-check-donald-trumps-first-100-days-action-plan

November 15, 2016 at 12:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

It has been a week (so yes, I apologize for this coming in late) and America is still mourning the loss of many things. This election has been a roller coaster since the beginning. With Bernie Sanders being one of the more radical liberal leaders out there gaining so much momentum, to Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio being swept out of the race by a businessman who has never even stepped foot into a government field, we were given this, two of the most disliked presidential candidates in history. Whether it was due to Hillary Clinton and her bundle of scandals or Donald Trump and his outright terrible leadership and his perpetuation of racism, sexism, an every other -ism in the book, it was noticeable that no single person was jumping up and down in exasperation because they couldn't choose which candidate they liked better, and this was for a reason.

A large sum of American people who were politically active felt cheated by the system, specifically democrats. With the email leak exposing the DNC attempting to undermine Bernie Sanders, active democratic members began to question if their voice was really being heard. When the DNC officially endorsed Clinton as their candidate to run for presidency, many strong Sanders supporters decided to Bernie or Bust, and either opted to write in, vote for trump, or not vote at all [1].

Because of this Clinton lost thousands of voters who didn't feel like they could trust her to follow through with her promises. While Sanders delved deep into the intersections of race, sex, and class, and how they affected people in different ways, Clinton barely hit the surface, supplying the "women make seventy cents* to every mans dollar" speech without supplying the asterisk comment that this amount only applies to white women [2].

I believe this is why this last election was so painful. With our first black president and our societies youth (specifically) becoming more and more intolerable to hate and injustice by the day, seeing our progress and our hard work go down the drain in one night is incredibly soul crushing [3]. Women, people of color, Muslims, LGBTQ+ Americans, Immigrants, etc. are all feeling the aftershocks of hate winning America back. I do believe we'll come back from this, I just think first, we need time to mourn for the things we have lost and the things we will continue to lose. It is exhausting being apart of something so many people avidly hate. I'm very tired.



[1]http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/24/politics/dnc-email-leak-wikileaks/
[2]http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/02/why-americas-youth-loves-bernie-213615
[3]http://www.vox.com/first-person/2016/11/9/13574080/donald-trump-election-muslims-women-people-of-color

November 15, 2016 at 3:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Shocking and devastating are two words that come to mind when I think about the results of the 2016 presidential election results. However this election was historic. The first women on a major party ticket, the first "outsider" elected president, the polls could not have been more wrong, the electoral college is predicted to vote differently then the country did, and the fate of our country has completely changed. Clinton put the biggest crack in the glass ceiling and nothing breaks my heart more than that we could not see her as our first women president. This election showed us that a qualified, prepared, and professional women is still not taken seriously even when compared to a business man who has devoted none of his life to politics or to bettering the lives of others. I think this was especially devastating to women, specifically young women, to see someone who dedicated their entire life to politics not be chosen over a businessman. I still have hope that it will be shattered one day soon, because it is important to show our young girls that they can truly be anything that they want. However the crack in the glass ceiling seems to now be repaired, and like we have gone back 100 years, to a time when women and minorities were not seen as equal. This election is also the first time we saw a business man, a Washington "outsider", make it this far, in fact all the way to the white house. I think this does show a lot about how much distrust there is in the government in this country. A large portion of this country voted for someone with no political experience to lead the country, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out with actually being able to lead. On to the inaccuracy of the polls. According to 538, on the morning of November 8th, Clinton had a 70% chance of winning (1). Throughout the night I watched as that percentage kept decreasing just as my faith in this election. As the numbers kept falling it became apparent to pollsters that people were either lying or they were not polling all the likely voters. These people in the silent majority were not public about their support for Trump which made it difficult for an accurate poll. Trump won the right states that would secure him the electoral win. This is the 5th time in American history where the electoral college chose someone that the country did not. As of November 15th Clinton is winning the popular vote by 1 million votes (2). I think this will bring a lot of attention to the fact that it is time to reevaluate the effectiveness of the electoral college. It over represents small states and does not accurately chose the candidate the country wanted. I think many people are put up with the electoral college and will push their representatives to put reform of the electoral college towards the top of the agenda. I think many agree when it is said that our country took a major step backwards from the progression that 8 years of the Obama administration had brought us. Just the day following the election of Trump many people of minority group experienced hate crimes. Protests have broken out all over the country protesting President-elect Trumps hateful message that insights fear in many communities. When looking at the things Trump would like to accomplish in his first 100 days- such as, allowing the construction of the keystone pipeline, cancel all federal funding of sanctuary cities, begin deportations of illegal immigrants, repeal Obamacare, build a wall along the south border, etc (3). He promises that by doing these things and more he will restore our country to when it was great, but to me it seams like we would be taking major steps back. A Trump presidency has put many in fear and many people will feel negative effects of loosing things such as Obamacare. Our country is unsure of what Trump will actually be able to accomplish but it is going to be years of political gridlock and a very divided country.

November 15, 2016 at 7:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

my source didn't fit so here you go:
(1)http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/
(2)http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/clinton-popular-vote-trump-2016-election-231434
(3)http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days

November 15, 2016 at 7:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

First, Trump’s victory said quite a bit about the United States as they were on election night. It represented the frustration and dissatisfaction with the current government, for one thing. After Obama’s two terms left him with a mediocre approval rating, it was time for a change, and Trump will, for better or for worse, be a change. It also showed the priorities of Americans. Trump has made numerous controversial remarks throughout his campaign, remarks that many people think would disqualify a candidate’s viability for president. However, Trump won, and earned 90% of the republican vote compared to Romney’s 93%.(1) Many voters obviously thought Trump remark’s were outweighed by his other benefits. It also demonstrates the unreliability of polls. Before the election, you would be hard pressed to find any site predicting a victory for Trump. FiveThirtyEight, which correctly predicted all 50 states of the 2012 election, was wrong on several of the key swing states. In the end, however, it really wasn’t the fault of the analysts- the polls themselves were not representative. Whether this means something for pollsters or just goes to show how bizarre this election was remains to be seen,(2) but it’s definitely something to consider.
Also, Trump’s presidency has implications for the future of America. He plans to: Pass laws making it harder for foreign governments to interfere in U.S. politics, make it harder to create regulations, and put term limits on the Senate. He will also attempt to withdraw from NAFTA and TPP, or at least dramatically renegotiate them. He will try to ease regulations on fossil fuels, and push forward the Keystone Pipeline, cut funding to Climate Change Programs, suspend immigration from war-torn regions, and cancel all of Obama’s executive actions he considers unconstitutional. Some of these agenda items are expected to pass, some are long shots, but it is clear that from day 1 Trump will attempt to make changes to the government, and it’s anyone’s guess how it’ll work out.






1. http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/11/why-did-trump-win-roundup-most-popular-theories
2. http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/?ex_cid=rrpromo
3. http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501451368/here-is-what-donald-trump-wants-to-do-in-his-first-100-days

November 16, 2016 at 6:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I was shocked when I first heard the results of the election to say the least. I choose not to respond to this prompt until now for a reason. I need time to adjust and calm down, I needed to be able to see the positives and negatives and weight them level-headedly, which was not something I could realistically do in the first couple days post election. This obviously is not the first time that the electoral college screwed the winner of the popular vote. I'd heard that some states are rallying to get other states to support the idea of getting there electors to vote for Clinton when the electoral college votes on December 19th(1). It is constitutionally possible for Clinton to be elected, but election experts say its highly unlikely, but they didn't really see Trump winning in the first place. There is a man nicknamed "professor prediction" because he has accurate predicted every presidential election since 1984, including 2016. This professor is now predicting that Trump will be impeached. I've heard some speculation that Trump is actually trying to get himself impeached, but I have no evidence to back that up. Anyway, at this point Trump has been bring more and more people onto his team, which is overwhelmingly white(2). My gut reaction to the election was to look at all the negatives and all the regression that our country might face. I feared for the rights of minorities, immigrants, Muslims, and my own rights as a woman. I find it appalling that there has been a surge in hate crimes in days after the election(3). In recent news I've seen that Trump has been making more moderate decisions in that hes willing to keep some parts of the Affordable Care Act(4) and that hes softening his stances on immigration(5). I'm constantly searching for a positive side to our impending Trump presidency, hopefully he will show us that he isn't as bad as we may have thought.

1. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2016/11/16/fact-check-could-electoral-college-elect-hillary-clinton-instead-donald-trump/93951818/
2. http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2016/11/politics/new-cabinet/
3. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/13/the-hate-after-trump-s-election-swastikas-deportation-threats-and-racist-graffiti.html
4. http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-willing-to-keep-parts-of-health-law-1478895339
5. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/us/politics/donald-trump-twitter-white-house.html

November 26, 2016 at 12:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To me, the results of this election signify that despite all the progress we seem to have made, America is still overwhelmingly racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, and misogynist. A man who embodies these traits was elected by the people, and that shows that they support these abhorrent ideologies. In the weeks since the election, there have been numerous despicable hate crimes reported, some using actual swastikas with white supremacist messages, making it seem as if we have been transported to 1940s Germany (1). Though Trump very weakly reprimanded his supporters performing these acts with a simple "Stop it" (1), he seems to not actually renounce the ideologies of these criminals. After the election, Trump appointed Steve Bannon as his chief strategist (2). Steve Bannon was the head of the alt-right news website Breitbart. The alt-right is basically a code word for neo-Nazis who try to appear as rational people by distancing themselves from the term Nazi. So we have a president who supports and is supported by people who believe in actual Nazi ideologies in the year 2016, even though he claims to "disavow" the alt-right (3).

1: http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/10/us/post-election-hate-crimes-and-fears-trnd/
2: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/2016/11/14/donald-trump-steve-bannon-reince-priebus/93791234/
3: http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/22/politics/donald-trump-disavow-groups-new-york-times/

November 27, 2016 at 4:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This election was extremely monumental for so many reasons, we have a massive shift in public opinion and dissatisfaction. A CNN exit poll shows that those who believe the fight against ISIS is going poorly, those who are dissatisfied with the government, and those who believed that either neither candidate or both candidates are qualified for office voted strongly republican (roughly 75%). This election was also important because so many states were battlegrounds, even Minnesota which has been roughly 70% Democrat for years. Finally this election was important because of the massive divide it brought among the people in the nation. Those who voted for Trump are considered racist Nazis and those who are Clinton supporters are considered to be violent and insane. This election divided the nation among a very thick line which most people refuse to cross. Needless to say I believe this election will hold a place in history.
http://www.cnn.com/election/results/exit-polls
www.realclearpolitics.com/elections/2016

December 7, 2016 at 12:30 PM  

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