Ok, I admit it. I steered clear of politics this year (2016). I’m sure for some it was the topic of conversation for most of the day, most of the days and election day 2016 is no exception. However, I just wanted to do my civic duty and hey, we all have to find out who our president is for our future at some point, right? I will be a good woman and be respectful regardless of who is in the presidential office or for whom I cast my vote.
Those Who Insist on Being Their Own Heroes
Then I saw this in my Google SERPs (Search Engine Results Page). I guess I wasn’t steering clear of the political subject entirely, was I? Is that considered naughty? I found this news article on “The Daily Beast” and it calls Trump out as having lost the election. I had to zoom in and read the date. Please correct me if I need glasses. Am I reading that correctly? It seems as if Trump (er… the future President of the United States, President Trump) was being called out as the loser!
Who does that? What value is there to being wrong. Then I realized that a journalist who calls it right is some sort of hero as a journalist or political analyst for having called it right and now the job offers start pouring in his or her direction. Well, when the prediction is correct, that is.
History Repeats Itself: Anyone Remember 1948?
Anyone remember 1948? No, I wasn’t around, but there is a familiar picture of President Truman holding up a newspaper showing that his opponent had won the election, when in fact, that wasn’t the case. I couldn’t help but think of what I had learned in Civics class when reading “The Daily Beast” and you KNOW that picture (that would have been in our textbooks.. yes, learning was done through textbooks) came to many of our minds. If you are wondering what I am talking about, just take a look at the full story laid out for us in Wikipedia.
The Theatrical Nature of the US Elections
As much as I am trying to claim a lack of involvement, when it comes to the elections, I admit that I always tune in and watch to see who is winning and who gets those final electoral votes. It is a competition. It is like betting (nah, we wouldn’t do that!) on the outcome of something that is very important.
I have high regard for my country! But, it wasn’t until I happened to be on the phone with a person whom I respect, from another country, almost to the minute that the announcement of President-Elect Trump came over the airwaves (or wireless waves) that she mentioned the theatrical nature of the elections in the United States.
She was not being disrespectful. There was no disrespect in this conversation, but it hit me how our US elections do land on the side of theatrics and all of the countries, worldwide (especially with the technology available in this 21st century) and how we are able to entertain the world on this one day every four years. Well, leave it to us Americans to put on a show, eh?
How Do the Elections Work in the United States?
For those of you who are curious how the US elections work, I leave you with this well-composed (visually-speaking) infographic, displaying the process. Does anyone want to take a shot at replacing the text?
For the rest of you? I now have the answer of who won the US presidential election of 2016 and I am calling it a day and crawling into bed, while those on our lovely East Coast are just starting to enter into another day. We’ll meet in the middle and welcome our new President as he takes office over our great nation of the United States of America in 2017. Congratulations President-Elect Trump and Good Job in the Ring, Ms. Hillary Clinton.
