In the months and weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election, I discovered just how many of you there are. Your support for Clinton and disdain for Trump flooded my social media feed in the form of shared articles, likes and comments on political posts and articles. I don’t engage in a ton of political banter, despite the ridiculous amount of political science college coursework I racked up in my degree program. So I spent most of the election season taking it all in, watching everyone duke it out over policy and personality.
The mainstream media (and my Facebook feed) had me convinced that, as a conservative, I was in a minority that was shrinking fast.
I dragged myself to the polls to do my civic duty, glad that the inflammatory demagogue and the corrupt career-politician were not my only choices. My vote was not a strategic one, it was one of desperation. I simply couldn’t stomach Clinton on both policy and character and though my political leanings aligned more closely with the Republicans, it made me sick to think of casting my vote for Trump. Third party it was.
That night, I watched the results pour in. Though I thought a Clinton victory a foregone conclusion, and that I’d have to hang my head in shame that my conservative friends had been right about my third-party vote being a vote for Clinton, I was wrong. Dead wrong.
I watched Pennsylvania like a hawk. Beginning with a slight margin in Clinton’s favor edging over to one in Trump’s favor and finally sealing the deal. There was no way Clinton could take the presidency at this point. I was surprised by the relief I felt. Donald Trump would be our next president. The man who I felt simply ran for president to add another notch to his belt had done it. In spite of all odds – a distasteful personality, horrifying rhetoric, extreme viewpoints, disgusting treatment of women, a media who favored Clinton on every turn, less funding – Donald Trump had won the presidency.
It was horrifying. But oh, what a relief that it wasn’t Hillary.
You see, Hillary doesn’t represent me. Aside from her gender, we have absolutely nothing in common. I spent ample time perusing her website to find ways in which our ideologies lined up…nothing turned up.
I truly tried to see if she was someone I could get behind – Trump’s rhetoric had turned me off long before I did a thorough analysis of each candidate and where they stood on the issues. I couldn’t stand him. Maybe, just maybe I could find enough common ground with Clinton to avoid having to vote for the one with intolerable arrogance. The more I read, the more I realized the quandary I was in.
She’s as crooked as they come. Her entire life has been spent in pursuit of power and money and she will stop at nothing to achieve it. And I mean nothing. It is shocking to me that so many people can turn a blind eye to the laundry list of despicable acts Hillary Clinton has on her hands.
So, although I can’t possibly be happy about a Trump presidency, I am hopeful. Hopeful that his rhetoric was just that. Hopeful that his inability to secure the popular vote will keep him humble and willing to appease both sides. Hopeful that his introduction to public service will not leave him ignorant to the priorities of those who elected him.
There’s been much said about the white working class and their role in ushering Trump into the highest governmental position in the land. They were called “uneducated white voters” during the campaign. I’m sure they loved that.
They probably played an enormous role in defeating Clinton. However, most of the people I know who voted for Trump did so not out of anger but because they feel Clinton really is that bad. Truly. I’ve no doubt they walked into the polls figuratively plugging their noses at what they were about to do.
You see, there’s a chance Donald Trump might actually deliver on his campaign promises, most of which were decried as bigoted, racist, misogynistic, etc. It just didn’t add up for me. He may be all those things but the majority of his policies and most of the electorate who voted for him aren’t.
But that’s not what they’ve been hearing. People on the right are sick and tired of being called names for believing differently than those on the left. It’s hypocritical, really. We’re racist for disagreeing with our current president, bigoted for believing that marriage between a man and a woman is the optimal arrangement and in society’s best interest, and misogynistic for not supporting abortion. Most of us are none of the above.
We just don’t believe that the solutions to society’s ills are the same solutions presented to us by the Democratic party. Let’s get that straight. We’re not haters. We just have different ideas about how to help the underserved and the marginalized and we believe that government does not provide all the answers. We believe that our society is better when traditional families are the primary building block and that empowering individuals to solve problems promotes self-reliance and a thriving economy.
And we believe it with the same fervor that you believe in your liberal policies.
It’s unfathomable, I know. I remember reflecting upon it over and over, wondering how on earth my friends could honestly buy into the liberal agenda. Where was the logic? What was the rationale?
And then I took a hard look at them. These were the people with whom I rubbed shoulders while volunteering at school. These were the people who signed up to work alongside me and my family at the food bank, or in homeless shelters, or at the refugee center, or to rake up leaves for the elderly. These were the people who quietly and generously donated to the same charitable causes to which I had donated. These were the people who had brought me meals, or taken care of my children, or cleaned my home, or done my laundry when our family was in crisis after our son Jack was diagnosed with a rare and incurable bone disorder.
People are so much more nuanced than we give them credit for.
During election season, we think we can paint an entire voting bloc with a broad brush labeled “bigot”, or “racist”, or “baby-killer”, or “hater”. But when we take the time to reflect on the people in our lives who whole-heartedly believe in political philosophies that could not be more different than ours, we can easily see that people are so much more than their political leanings.
My liberal-leaning friends, I see you. And despite the fact that I will probably never understand why you believe the way you do, I accept you. More than that, I love you. Your presence in my life is a reminder that goodness and liberalism(or conservativism, as the case may be) are not mutually exclusive.