It has been mere hours since the release of the presidential election results in which GOP Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump succeeded to win the presidential election. He is set to become America’s 45th president, an unruly turn of events amid deceptive polls.
“Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead,” said former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, on Wednesday morning, one day after the Nov. 8, 2016, Election Day stunner.
To say that people across the country are in shock over the election results would be an understatement. The outcome of the presidential race, which spanned more than 18 months, finally came to a harrowing end in a matter of hours. This is it. America is set to be under the leadership of Trump, in what many voters and social media posters determined to be something like “the beginning of the end.”
Many of the polls of the last few days predicted a decent lead for the Democratic Party candidate.
“In the final average of 4-way polls tracked by RealClearPolitics, Clinton led 45.5 percent to Trump’s 42.2 percent, Libertarian Gary Johnson’s 4.7 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s 1.9 percent,” according to USA Today.
“Some predict Clinton will ride into the White House with more than 300 Electoral College votes,” stated Time magazine.
“The path to 270 is tougher for Trump, who is projected to be able to count on 144 Electoral College votes,” according to The Associated Press.
In the end, Clinton, who led in the public vote, was beat by Trump in the electoral vote.
As the news spread the day after the election, the world found itself in a state of disbelief; stock markets took a dive and Clinton supporters shed tears during the alarming announcement of the results.
The polls predicted a win for Clinton. Her supporters and staffers predicted a win for the Democratic Party. In the last days leading up to the vote, Trump supporters thought it would take a small miracle for Trump to be elected president. They were wrong. The world was wrong.
In an emotional concession speech at the Wyndham Hotel, Clinton gracefully said her goodbyes to the presidential race. “This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for, and I’m sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country. I feel pride and gratitude for this wonderful campaign that we built together. You represent the best of America and being your candidate has been one of the greatest honors of my life,” said Clinton.
The former secretary of state continued by addressing the hardship of the loss but also the way moving forward. “This is painful and it will be for a long time. Our campaign was never about one person or even one election. It was about the country we love and about building an America that’s hopeful, inclusive and big-hearted. We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought.”
The outcome feared by many worldwide has materialized and brought America into a new skeptical day.
Clinton ended her poignant concession speech with a powerful remark to women: “To all the women and especially the young women who put their faith in this campaign and in me, I want you to know that nothing has made me prouder than to be your champion.”
“Women feel we’re going backwards, minorities feel fearful, insecure, that this is not the country they thought they were living in,” said David Gergen via a CNN broadcast.
The outcome of this election has been an eye-opener for many Americans about the state of the country they’re living in and the state of the mindset of those who voted Trump into power. Uncertainty lies ahead for the nation leading up to the January inauguration.