Election night was far from expected. On Tuesday, November 8, the United States decided its next president: Donald Trump.
The last time a Republican administration was in the White House and had control of both the Senate and Congress was 2003-2007 under the George W. Bush administration.
For many millennials, this was a time when we were barely aware of the political discourse being discussed in the country, but regardless of your age, we all felt fear. We were in the middle of a war - a war declared by the Republicans.
I am not trying to say all Republicans are warmongering, however, in the climate our country is facing and with comments from Trump during his campaign saying he would “bomb the shit out of ISIS,” whether there is a plan or not, the idea of any sort of military intervention is concerning: especially since our country is still emotionally disheveled from the Iraq invasion - a war many did not agree with.
Now, don’t get me wrong, terrorism is a BIG problem, but I am worried about how Trump and his temperament will handle it because nobody wants a repeat of 2003.
Many of these fears - concerning Trump and his temperament toward issues - was on the minds of many Clinton supporters throughout Pittsburgh on election night.
On Tuesday night, at the IBEW Union Hall in the Southside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Allegheny County Democrats gathered to watch the results of the 2016 Presidential election come in.
As I arrived around 9 pm, the room was full and bubbling with optimism. There were several round tables draped in blue linen and people were chatting and watching CNN on a big projected screen, as the voting polls began to close and voting results were calculated.
The people were optimistic, even though Arkansas and Alabama were the first two states of the night with confirmed results - both states going red for Trump. However, this was to be expected as many southern states traditionally lean Republican.
Pittsburgh mayor, Bill Peduto, addressed the crowd early on saying, “She’s gonna be in the White House. You can bank on that!”
Chief Executive of Allegheny County, Rich Fitzgerald and Congressman Mike Doyle (D-PA) were also in attendance that night.
The crowd was composed of several individuals and groups laced up in their Hillary shirts, buttons, and hats - hopefully waiting to bring in the first female president of the United States.
Selena Schmidt, 47, and Sarah Boal 34, both from the Northside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, both went to the polls early that morning to cast their vote for Clinton - hoping to see the first female president in their lifetime.
“This is more than politics,” Schmidt said, “In this country, we will realize there are no more barriers that can’t be broken. It can be done.”
Schmidt also expressed the misogyny Clinton had faced during her years in Washington, believing that Clinton still perceived and succeeded when other politicians thought, she was never good enough. Boal also looked forward to seeing Clinton elected and had been a fan of hers since she was the first lady.
"Having watched the past years of Hillary’s career, it’s always been inspiring,” Boal said, “She’s made such hard decision that I think all women can relate to.”
However, it was not just the prospect of history that had people out to the polls. Bob McAuliffe, 64, from Shayler Township and Director for United Steel Workers for the State of PA, believed that Trump was just not qualified to be president,
“It’s a nail-biter right now,” McAuliffe said earlier in the night. “All the comments he made about women. All the comments he made about minorities. I’m surprised anyone would vote for him.”
McAuliffe also questioned Trump’s business policies such as trade with foreign countries for materials like steel and wood as evidence of his lack of support for American trade and leadership success.
“How can you be that good [in business] if you’re still in debt,” McAuliffe asked. “And to make comments that you don’t pay your taxes? I pay taxes, everyone here [motions to the entire room] pays their taxes.”
For McAuliffe, he admitted that his concern for a Trump win would be the legacy left for future generations, especially the effect of a new Supreme Court Justice appointed under Trump—if we’re even lucky to only replace one this upcoming term.
As the night trudged along slowly, a Trump victory became more and more likely. For every state that Clinton won, the whole room erupted with applause, but this applause was quieter with each state won because Trump was winning more.
As the hour crept closer to midnight, attendees began to slowly trickle out as it was clear a winner would not be announced until early morning.
Toward the end of the night, as the room became emptier and people began to give up on the hope Clinton would be the next president, I found myself seated at an empty table filled with abandoned cups and chairs watching more states come in. A lawyer and poll watcher for a precinct in the city sat down next to me and through casual conversation we began calculating the states needed for Clinton to win. As we adjusted our numbers based on incoming results from CNN and Politico.com, he made an interesting observance based on public precinct numbers from the election.
“We had a huge turnout for the precinct and a lot of working class,” he said [wanting to stay anonymous]. “There was roughly 340:100 [votes]. Down ticket, Trump got 100 votes, Toomey [incumbent Republican Senator for PA running against Democrat Katie McGinty] got 66, so almost 300 voted straight Democrat and 15 people voted straight Republican out of 450. People are voting for Trump but against Hillary. Toomey got less than fifteen percent of votes whereas Trump got roughly twenty-five percent, so people are voting for Trump and against Hillary. Hillary wasn’t as strong [as thought] and Trump [was stronger] as predicted.”
At around 1 a.m., the big projected TV screen was shut off and the remaining press and Clinton supporters were asked to leave so the building could be closed. At this point, Trump was on the brink of winning Pennsylvania and Michigan leaving several people in tears as they realized that Clinton would not win.
As I made my way back to the newsroom, I was scared, cold, and unsure about the future our country would hold.
Back on campus and back in the newsroom, it was almost 2 a.m. and Trump was the clear projected winner with 266 votes — having won Pennsylvania and Wisconsin with Michigan predicted to follow.
Soon chanting could be heard from the fourth-floor office where we were at — protesters had taken the streets.
Marching down Forbes Avenue, the protesters -mostly students - could be heard chanting “Not my President” and “Fuck Donald Trump”.
Matthew Hoorer, a first-year marketing major understood the sentiments but disagreed by the reaction from the students.
"Democracy is democracy," Hoorer said. "I can understand why people are mad but the majority of America voted for a candidate and we have to respect that."
Turning left onto N Bellefield Avenue and looping up around Fifth Avenue, the protesters marched towards downtown where they turned around at the Birmingham Bridge before coming back up Forbes Avenue back towards Oakland.The protesters then made their way to the Cathedral of Learning where they were met by police before marching and occupying the patio on the first-floor entrance of Hillman Library where police blocked the doors.
During the event, students shouted their concerns and fears under a Trump presidency. The students believed under Trump, many minority rights would be taken away or undermined. Additionally, students feared the possibility of attacks from Trump supporters - now emotionally affirmed in their beliefs.
Maddie Broadbelt, a first year majoring in microbiology, acknowledged Trump's victory but still participated in a sign of solidarity.
"[I protested] to show that even though Trump is elected, we disagree," Broadbelt said. "Even though we have someone who is against social change, it can still happen."
Further details of the protest can be found on The Pitt News website.
Although student protesting in Pittsburgh has been relatively peaceful, there was some reporting of signs and trash cans banged and knocked over. There are other cities where the protesters haven’t been. You have the right to protest peacefully, but you do not have the right to destroy property or disrupt traffic. We are lucky as Americans to have a democratic process that works, but sometimes we are not always happy with the outcome. That’s ok, but it is not ok to contradict the values you preach.
I admit I voted for Clinton: not because I agree with all of her policies or actually believe she would do what she said, but because she has more political experience and I was afraid of what Trump’s vision for America might realistically entail. However, one thing I noticed among the students I interviewed protesting, were the people who DIDN’T even vote!
Let’s get something straight, if you were eligible to vote and didn’t then you have NO right to protest. Your lack of a vote determined your voice - you do not care about your civic duties, you are too lazy to mail in your absentee ballot/ re-register your address, or you truly do not care about who becomes president.
For those of you who voted third party to “take a stance”, I get it, I was tempted to vote third party as well - since I can’t stand either Clinton or Trump’s politics. However, that time to break from bi-partisan politics was not now. If you truly had any preference between Clinton or Trump for who became president, then you should have voted for one of them. Just look at the results: Trump won certain states by decimal percentage points - points that went to the third party candidates.
I think being involved with politics can be difficult because you are forced to confront your own opinions of what matters to you the most.
For me personally, I have had the great opportunity to cover several rallies in Pittsburgh for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, as well as Democratic Senatorial candidate Katie McGinty (Bernie Sanders also came!) for my university’s independent newspaper — The Pitt News. As a young woman who wears the traditional Muslim headscarf (hijab), I never attended a Donald Trump rally, due to fear of violence towards myself which has now become a realistic possibility. However, the closest I came was a protest outside of the David Lawrence Convention Center back in September when he spoke at a fossil fuel convention — I went to cover the protest outside on behalf of The Pitt News.
Although I was never fully in the Hillary camp, I certainly was never in the Trump camp - not after all those things he said about women and minorities. Now, I understand that not everyone who voted for Trump did so out of racism or sexism. One of the biggest realizations I had while covering so many election events, was that many voted for a candidate - Clinton or Trump - believing the other was worse. This election appeared as though people voted to keep the other out of office.
However, like many elections, there were some who were single issue voters, some who voted in alignment with their political party - regardless of the candidate - and there were also those who truly believed their candidate would do good and bring hope back to this country.
In the aftermath of the election, I was stunned. More than that, I felt numb. I felt unsure about what the future may hold. I am fearful of what sort of violent affirmation Trump supporters may enact. I am fearful for what effect Trump’s policies may have on the LGBTQ+ community’s rights: considering many policies related the community were passed via executive order. Lastly, I am fearfulDonald Trump does not have enough political experience to have the conviction to make a political decision best for all Americans.
For those of you who still see these negative reactions as a joke, there is an opinion’s column by Matt Moret which ran in The Pitt News - an independent student newspaper - Friday following the election that I believe really sums up the emotional aftermath of the election.
“But some of you find that, and the consequences of your vote, funny. Some of you laugh when confronted with tearful people expressing fear because their skin is dark or because they wear a hijab or because their identity doesn’t fit into any census options currently available. You patronizingly call their pain and fear “saltiness” and complain about sensitivity, ignoring just how often all of these people have had that sensitivity tested. Fear is trivial to you because you’ve never felt it. For that matter, neither have I. That’s our privilege, and you have turned that into an affront to human decency.”
People have the right to be fearful and sad — let them. As time passes and as inauguration day inches closer, the acceptance of Donald Trump president-elect will come. There is an empathy needed in this moment. If you do not want people to be afraid, then do not give them a reason to be. Treat others with kindness, respect, and call out others who discriminate or bully. We need to understand that no matter your race, religion, sexual identity, or political association, we are all American — let’s start acting like it.
