Being one of the most important and influential political events of our lives, this election has proven to be one of values and one of volume. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were both well
known when they entered the 2016 race, but perhaps not for all of the best reasons.
“I probably wouldn’t even vote if I could,” said Taylor Streck ’19, an undecided independent, “I think this country should not fall under either of their hands.” Both Clinton and Trump were consistent fabricators throughout the election process, so how legit was this election?
“I think it’s kind of like a lesser of two evils situation.” said Jaya Blanchard ’17, leader of the Young Democrats club. “These candidates are the most disliked people in politics.” Blanchard has supported Clinton from the very beginning of her campaign. But Clinton has come under fire on several topics, one of the most prominent being her private email server.
“I think it’s stupid that people are so up in arms about it. Scandals like this have happened numerous times.” said Blanchard. “What makes this scandal different from any other scandal?”
“She sent government files through regular email, that’s pretty stupid.” said Streck. Sending government emails through a private server is a federal crime, but one that she has not been charged for.
“I think Hillary has been relatively honest, and has been relatively open about the scandal.” said Blanchard. Hillary did in fact admit to her mistake in the first debate, saying that she would “obviously do it differently” if she could do it over again, and according to Justice Correspondent Carrie Johnson, her decision to use a private email server was an issue of convenience.
But Hillary does have her faults. In the past there have been many instances of her exaggerating or even blatantly lying to the public.
“She seems kinda out of it,” said Streck, and many would agree. Over the course of the election, many had dubbed her “Crooked Hillary”, in reference to her often contradicting opinions and seemingly evasive behavior. She has reversed her views on several topics, including same-sex marriage and NAFTA. “She should be in jail right now, but they’re not gonna put her in jail.” said Streck.
It’s this ambiguity that often causes many people to think of her as a “typical politician”, whereas Trump has a more direct approach.
“He’s an anti-politician politician,” said Mason Hansen ‘18, leader of the Young Republicans Club at West. “He wants someone from the outside who can fix it from the inside.”
A recurring idea in this election was the appeal of a political outsider, someone who wasn’t the typical establishment candidate, and Donald Trump definitely fit the bill. A successful businessman, Trump had zero prior political experience when he announced his candidacy in 2015.
“We have someone who’s a political outsider, that doesn’t act like the overwhelming majority of politicians.” said Hansen. While this rare quality drew many people to Trump’s side, it was also a subject of controversy as people began to question his aptitude for the presidency.
“There’s countless examples of ‘facts’ that he’s just made up.” said Blanchard, referring to Trump’s statements in the debates. Those of which range from complaining about skyrocketing unemployment rates in Ohio and Michigan, whose rates are actually below the national average, to denying a recorded instance of him mocking a disabled reporter. However, one of the main concerns of the press and people were Trump’s disrespectful and derogatory statements about women, which can be found with solid evidence from a recording in 2005 to the third presidential debate.
“No one can say what he said was okay.” said Hansen, “He basically admitted to sexually assaulting women.” While several women have come forward with claims of being sexually harassed by Trump, most supporters believed that was still a far cry from Hillary’s faults.
“I think Hillary’s ordeal is a lot bigger because she broke federal law.” said Hansen “I think he’s being no more evasive about [the claims] than Hillary has [been] about her situation with her emails.” But not everyone is as lenient about his behavior.
“He’s so rude, he literally has no respect for other human beings.” said Streck. So if both of these candidates are so corrupt, why were they chosen?
“Honestly there’s so much bias in the government,” said Blanchard, “it’s not based on merit at all.” Many people are upset with the lack of legitimacy in this election, but America has now made its choice.
“Elections are about compromise.” said Blanchard, but many are finding it hard to accept the results, while others can rejoice. Overall, this election has created a great divide in America, but it’s one that seems to have been created by preferred faults, rather than preferred values.

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