How Your Vote Got Trumped

Wednesday Wander
November 9, 2016

Suck It Up, Your Vote Got "Trumped":
How the system beat you

Ha! I feel about as smug about that pun as Secretary Clinton did at that one presidential debate when she said "Trumped-up Trickle-down economics." But in all seriousness, the Donald Trump is the Presiden-Elect and we need to deal with it. Everyone is posting on Facebook at how ecstatic they are or how pissed off they are at the results, it's all very childish. To my all my friends I will tell you the end of the American-era is not upon us, the Presidency is not a dictatorship, and four years will go by faster than you think.

Righ now, I'm attending a conference in an area that has historically voted "blue" and today they're probably feeling really blue about the 2016 Presidential Race. A lot of voters who backed the Republican candidates may be joyous today or even have a sour taste in their mouth as if they ate a bad apple. Our 45th President is not a favorite for a lot of people and from my stance a strong moderate (I'm working on trademarking it) I can understand why. I can also understand why people would want to vote for the Republican Party's Nominee, how can I do such a thing asks the Left-Wing? It's called being objective and weighing the facts.

As far as how the Electoral College chose one leader and the Popular Vote chose another, let me break it down for you... In states that the Democratic Nominee won, she won BIG, such as Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, and the whole West Coast. By big I mean, for every vote to Trump Clinton received 1.5 to 2 votes for her. In California, she received almost 3 votes for every 1 vote for Trump, and that state alone could have switched the gap. For Trump, the Swing States  that he won he squeaked by, squeaked by meaning the difference between the two was less than 2% which is the normal percentage for most Presidential Elections in those states.

Is the Electoral College out of date? Should it be repealed? Again, I can see both sides. The popular vote allows the general population of the vote to determine the head of the Executive Branch. The Electoral College allows for each state to represented appropriately based on population, very similar to the House of Representative and the number of delegates.

Let's look at it this way: If we take out California's votes, which has 53 seats in the House of Representatives (out of  435 voting representatives, 12% of the House!), only 16 of those are actually Republican Reps. Rounding up to 70%, 37 of their Representatives are Democrat which actually is 20% of the Democratic seats. If we pull their 5.5 million votes for Mrs. Clinton, that puts Mr. Trump in the lead with the Popular Vote by nearly 5.3 million votes. Just because all the gap between the Winner and Second Place finisher of the 2016 Presidential race was -202,340 votes but +51 Electoral Votes, does not mean the system is broken.

How can the Democrats solve this issue? How do the Republicans handle this issue? Simply point to the fact that your candidate won or lost by way of the current system, and do what you can to make sure your voice is heard by your elected official at all levels, in both federal and state (including local too). What you should not do is post on social media complaining or brag about the election, it does just as much good as stating the issues at the neighborhood bar, it is only jaw work. Your best solution is to do something to support your political views for the next election, gain as much backing as you can in your area (reminder the majority wins your state and your state alone).

If you don't like the results of the election and you are delaring you will leave this country because you fear for what may happen with our new President-Elect, go ahead and leave because that's not the American way to do things. We don't run, retreat, or cry. Yeah, you may not agree. As an American citizen, if you voted and you regret doing so in this election, that is the same thing as regretting having freedoms and I ask you to reevaulate your life choices. My views were not accurately represented by either candidate very well, but I do not regret my vote. Stand for what you believe in, accept the circumstances, and move forward.

Donald Trump is the next President of the United States and that's the results of the election. We have to deal with it, we can keep throwing tantrums in the form of riots or we can go out and make sure our voice as an American is heard justly and fairly through representation in government. Sure some of you may not like what happened, hell the Popular Vote has indicated a different candidate won that the Electoral College four other times in American History (most recently in 2000), but it must be accepted as the truth. Going forward, we must love each other, treat one another with respect, and always do what is morally right no matter what someone else is doing. Speak your mind in a civil and respecting manner, but also listen to what everyone has to say. I plead to you all Americans, let's be support one another in the betterment of our society and strive for equality to be true for everyone.


Disclaimer: I shall not tell you who I voted for because I believe casting a ballot is like blowing out birthday candles, if I tell you who/what I wished for it might not be true. Also, I don't like people pressing their opinions on me based on their opinion of my own.