the davidsonian
November 9, 2016 vol. 112 Issue 9
IT'S MOURNING AGAIN IN AMERICA
The Independent Student Newspaper of Davidson College since 1914
The Alvarez Student Union was abandoned at 1:00 AM on Wednesday morning before any conclusive results were announced. Photo by Olivia Daniels
KAMRAN SHAHBAZ Political Correspondent Note: This article was finalized at 3:00 AM on Wednesday morning. Any opinions expressed reflect solely those of the Davidsonian staff.
T
he hundreds of red, white, and blue balloons suspended above the Student Union’s third floor were not released after CNN announced the result of the least anticipated yet most historic election of the century. Since the fall of 2015 student organizations have attempted to persuade students to vote for whomever they felt would be best equipped as commander-in-chief. Both the College Republicans’ refusal to endorse Trump and the College Democrats’ hosting of Martin O’Malley and Tim Kaine demonstrate the general anti-Trump atmosphere on Davidson’s campus. Eager to see if these efforts would correlate to a Clinton victory, students sprawled themselves on all floors of the Union to tune into the final stretch of the presidential race. Upholding the Davidsonian tradition, the staff began the evening eager to capture the event, but this joy was ephemeral. Just as political pundits had anticipated a Clinton victory, the Davidsonian staff began to ponder whether the title “Clintorious” or “Hill Yes” would be most apt. However, as ballot-counting began, contemplating this decision proved futile; despite the fact that Clinton supporters comprised the majority of the crowd, Wolf Blitzer’s voice drowned out the cheers of the crowd. And eventually, the electoral votes had been totaled with Trump winning 276 and Clinton winning 218 according to the Washington Post. The first swing state called was Ohio, which President Obama had won the last two elec-
tions. The minute that Trump was projected to win Florida, too, political pundits across the nation promptly changed their predictions for a Clinton presidency. At 10:30 PM the New York Times projected an 87% chance of Trump becoming commander-in-chief. By 11:00 PM that number increased to 94%. Trump continued his streak of winning multiple swing states, causing Wisconsin, Arizona, and Pennsylvania to turn Republican. States leaning Democrat that Clinton won included Virginia, Colorado, and Nevada, but Clinton lost the majority of the swing states as well as many states that were leaning Democrat. Trump’s success on the national level was in part due to his tremendous success in North Carolina, in which he beat Clinton 50.5% to 46.7%. In the Senate Republican Richard Burr defeated Democrat Deborah Ross 51% to 45%. The Democrats did have a victory as Roy Cooper beat Pat McCrory 48.4% to 46.2% in the NC gubernatorial race. On the local level Republican incumbent John Bradford defeated Independent Jane Campbell 57% to 43%, becoming the House Representative of District 98. What are the implications of this election result moving forward? According to Chair of the Center for Political Engagement, Madi Driscoll '17, Democrats must accept some of the blame for the election result. “We have ignored the poor white Americans,” Driscoll says. “We haven’t given them the attention that they need, whether or not that is legitimating in sociological thinking. We have not given them the attention they deserve in order to vote Democrat since Robert Kennedy, and this is on us.” In any case the election result was unexpected for Democrats and Republicans alike, and the closeness of the election in many swing states such as Florida only highlighted the importance of using one’s political power through voting. “This is not what we expected, this close a
race, Florida going Republican, Texas being as close as it’s ever been,” President of College Republicans Beth Wright '17 says. “It shows that every single vote matters, and every student who voted should feel proud of that, no matter who they voted for. And all students who didn’t vote that could’ve voted should be kicking themselves because every race is close.” Whether Trump achieved his victory through hateful rhetoric, sentiments of disenfranchisement among his base, apathy toward Clinton, or a lack of Democrat turnout, it is shocking that
pollsters did not anticipate the election result. The Davidson community references the supposed bubble that engulfs the lives of most students, and this election result is a further manifestation of just how prominent that bubble is. It is no understatement to say that Davidson students will struggle throughout the week, grappling between impractical optimism and realistic pessimism with regard to whether or not America will be great (again).
This map shows the election results as of 2:40 AM on Wednesday morning. At this time, Donald Trump held 276 electoral votes, and Hillary Clinton held 218 electoral votes. Image and information courtesy of the Washington Post's online election coverage