The race to the White House— whether it would be Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump who would land their rump in the Oval Office— was nothing short of draining, nail-biting and historic.
Thanks to the Electoral Vote, Trump received the title of President-Elect, and on January 20, 2017, he will be President Donald J. Trump. In the days post-election, protests ranging from peaceful to violent began to erupt in different areas of the United States. Hillary Clinton’s loss wasn’t an easy one for some to take.
But for others, her loss was a relief.
Reactions of all kinds went viral quickly. Trending on Twitter just a few hours after the official results were in was “#notmypresident”.
But what if she was?
What if Hillary Clinton won our election? Would reactions be the same? Would the rioters be rioting; the Internet going insane with petitions from change.org to somehow veto the Electoral College?
I decided to ask around . . . What if she was our President?
“If Hillary had won this election— it would have meant safety for my friends who feel unsafe. Now is a time where people are using this election as an excuse to be hateful and cruel.
For me personally, I would have felt better coming out to more of my family and friends.
I came out a year ago as bi (this week actually) to my family. But I’m not fully out of the closet. I’ve grown up in the south, and I’ve witnessed first hand the cruelty of being gay, lesbian or bi. Ive dealt with this internal struggle my entire life. But over the past year I have been able to tell my family and close friends and it is so freeing. But I’m still not completely comfortable coming out— now more than ever. I don’t feel like I can be open about my sexuality. With my family members who support Trump. And with all the hateful acts done in just this week. if Hillary would have won— I would have felt more at ease— and comforted in the fact that more people wanted someone who believes that people like me— and other minority groups have a voice. That they should be treated with respect. That I, and other members of these groups, are more important than a financial plan or whatever else Trump seems to ‘bring’ to the table. Now more than ever in my life I feel like I have to hide this part of who I am. I was slowly working toward being free of that. And now I feel like I have to wait another four years. With Hillary, the child in me who longed to be normal would see that people are more accepting than I would have thought. And that doesn’t feel like the case. This may seem silly, and not as important as some other issues, but it’s really been on my mind.”
Anonymous
“If Hillary had been elected president I would’ve felt a little safer Wednesday morning. My friends and I of the LGBT community would have been a little more at ease knowing we would be protected along with our freedoms. As a poc I would know that someone would still be fighting to make sure I got equal rights. Our laws wouldn’t be based on a religious book made thousands of years ago. Also my immigrant friends would have been safer. . . . what it boils down to alotve people would have been safer. lol and more free to walk and enjoy their lives without fear of persecution. The negative Trump supporters would’ve had a legit muzzle for awhile.
Since Trump won my friends and I have been afraid. I’m still trying to figure out what it means to be black, bi, and agnostic now that he’s president. What new laws will be created to try to hinder me? After years of being held down by religious persecution I was finally able to breathe and be okay with who I truly am. Will someone now come in try to take that away? Living in east Texas is hard enough as it is. Wednesday morning I was so afraid to leave my house, even my bed. When I. finally did venture out all I received were angry stares from white people. I was terrified. It’s like the racist pre Trump atleast were only able to whisper things my way or ackwardly avoid me. Post Trump they are bold. They have more confidence to do and say whatever they feel. Who’s going to stop them? Not Trump. People being persecuted and put down for their religious beliefs or for living a different lifestyle who’s going to fight for them? Not Trump.
Peoples basic freedoms are at risk of being taken away. Freedoms that they took their whole lives to obtain. And for what? Bc a few people wanted to “vote their conscience”? Wanted to “choose who god would choose”? People playing god can be a dangerous thing.”
Kimberly M
“What it means to me is hard to separate from what it means for America. I think since Hillary didn’t win it is better to focus on how her lack of victory changes things. Everyone took for granted her victory because we are used to the status quo. With Hillary we get more of what we’ve had since Bush. Low key expensive wars, with cyclic economic crashes, and minor progress to freedom. With Trump we get to change the face of the parties. This way we have more hope. If Bernie had won things would had changed. But Trump is a one term president unless he is amazing. So in 2020 a new set of people come forward…the woman who couldn’t beat a Kenyan Muslim named Hussein or The Donald doesn’t get to run again. Things are changing now. The way people incorporate politics into their lives will change. People being ‘anti marriage equality’ always made the ‘pro equality’ people have a funny taste in their mouth towards that person.
I’m getting too off topic for you I know. . . . It is hard to do because she didn’t win, and it was an expected thing. It is like the expectations of how my political life evolves with my regular life changes now too. Instead of the sour taste in the mouth, things get to be different.
So to say what it means if she had of won is to say that nothing has changed from the day before she won.
It all stays the same. She filled people with hope, and some with dread- but not me. The ‘hope’ people will tell you things will get better for women, wage gap, and lower police violence. But those things don’t really change with her. With those who ‘dread’ it they say she will bring literal end times with her Machiavellian corruption. That’s only true if that is what American politics has been working towards for generations. She is just the next president after Reagan.
It is still trickle down that ruins the economy for the working people. That affects my life.
With Trump is it the same thing? Probably.
His presidency fuels that fire I was talking about earlier though, for the liberals of this country to fight. So in 2020 Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders wins.”
Austin D
“For me, if Hilary would have won, it would have meant fear for my rights. I would have worried about my gun rights, which as a CHL holder and avid hunter means a lot to me. I would have worried for our health care system. In my opinion, ObamaCare did two good things and a lot of wrong unconstitutional things that hurt our quality of care and expenses of care. In my opinion, Hillary was not eligible for election as she was under serious FBI investigation. I feel if it would have been anyone with less money, they probably would have been in jail… I just do not feel she is a very good person and in my opinion she definitely is not the political role model for women to look up to. There are other women in politics I would much rather admire . . . Anyway, my opinion is different from the typical, ‘Hillary kills babies, how could anyone vote for that’ crap most republicans use to justify voting for Trump. I personally voted third party as I could not bring myself to vote for him, but I did prefer him to Hilary.”
Anonymous
“[As you well know,] I was not always a Clinton supporter and I do think that the way the DNC did Bernie was detestable. However, I did come to admire Hillary Clinton. Being raised here in the south, it’s largely one-sided opinions on certain politicians, and up until this election I always just sided with my family and didn’t take the time to research for myself. Had Hillary Clinton won the Presidency it would have meant so much to, not only me, but so many other people. She was the first woman to ever win the nomination of a major party and that shows how far we have come, but I had hopes that she would shatter that highest glass ceiling of a woman by winning the Presidency. A Clinton Presidency would have meant that our Muslim neighbors would not have to be scared that they would all suffer at the hands of hatred and all be labeled terrorists. The LGBTQ Community would not have to worry about their rights being taken away from them just because someone does not agree with who they are and who they love. Our people of color would not have to be subjected to even higher racism than is already in place. It would have meant that we all came together to collectively decide that hate cannot win and that, in fact, love does and always will trump hate. I would have been proud to know that my niece is growing up in a world where she really can be anything she wanted to be, even the President of the United States. It would have meant that the majority of people agreed that racism, bigotry and homophobia have no place in the highest office of our country; that those things are a disqualifier for a Presidential candidate.”
Dillon S
“So when Hillary first came on the scene as a serious contender, back when she was trying to run against Obama, I mean, it was sort of confusing to me. I mean it was exciting that there was a woman running for president, and I was young and naive to politics but had only heard good things about the Clintons at this point, so I was all for it! But also . . . I was really in love with Obama. I was too young to vote or even to really understand any of their plans or policies but I remember trying to decide who I WOULD vote for if I could. In hindsight, it was Obama all the way. I believe he is one of the best presidents this country has ever seen, especially with what he has to deal with and fix when first elected into office after god-awful George W.
Now fast forward several years and she’s back on the scene. Naive McCartney came back with the semi common ‘Yay! A woman!’ And I was ready to vote! Buuuuut then along came Bernie Sanders, who is quite possibly the love of my life. I was almost mad at myself for wanting to vote for him over Hillary, simply because of the woman vs old white man thing, but I knew a lot more about politics now. I knew what was at stake for our country, and I believed Bernie had a better handle on it than Hillary. And then boom, Bernie gets knocked out of the race. I was heartbroken and disappointed but also sort of relieved that Hillary would now be the obvious choice to me.
I refuse to even give my opinion on all of her accusations and possible lies and crimes. Once it was basically down to her and Trump, NONE of that stuff mattered, because helloooooo, Donald trump is the worst mistake America could make?? I started studying up more because I didn’t want to be one of the people only voting for her because she was a woman. And by the time I did vote for her, I had accomplished that. Her economic plans were sound, she had begun going along with some of the things Bernie had said in his early campaign, she had all the right people on her side, and she was just a downright classy lady who I believed would truly be a good leader in this country. Now I won’t lie and say part of my vote went to the pure cause of keeping Trump out of office, cause it definitely did. But I’m also proud to say I voted my conscience, just like so many third-party voters said, as if anyone who voted in the two party system was a mindless sheep. I voted for who I believed in, AND I voted for who I thought was the safer choice. If she had been elected, I would have been probably an equal mixture of proud, excited, and relieved.”
McCartney S
“A Hillary Clinton win for me would have meant higher national debt, taxes, less jobs and security, a take away of constitutional rights, the successful transition into a globalist agenda of one world currency and government. Last but not least, a deeper divide amongst American citizens.”
Dustin A
“If Hillary would have won the election it would have meant my husband potentially losing his job. [My husband] works at a clean coal plant. I would like to emphasize the clean part. She said she would put ‘a lot of coal companies out of business.’ So yeah, that’s why she didn’t get my vote. [My husband] and I said many times that if it wasn’t for her stance on that, we both would have loved to vote for her. I know that lost her votes in states where coal plants are prevalent. Trump didn’t get my vote either though, for obvious reasons.”
Sarah B
“I’ve long been told that as a woman, I’m somehow less than a man. It wasn’t said outright, but it was understood. I remember seeing a cartoon in the newspaper when I was young that I thought was hilarious; it was a man sitting at a desk with a nameplate that read ‘The Boss.’ His assistant opens the door and says to him, ‘Sir, your wife called. She wants her nameplate back.’ I shared the cartoon with my parents, pleased with my find. My dad took the opportunity to let me know that women can’t be bosses. ‘No one wants to work for a woman or deal with a woman in charge,’ he told me. ‘Not even other women!’ I was furious. As an adult, I work in a company where there is only one female manager locally. The situation higher up isn’t much better, with only two of the nine chairs in the c-suite occupied by women. Everywhere I look, men are in charge. All the way up to the White House. Men, as far as the eye can see. I cried the night HIllary accepted the nomination. I thought, ‘This is it.’ I wasn’t rooting for her only because she’s a woman, but because our beliefs and values are in sync. Her being a woman was just a huge bonus. She didn’t win, of course, and I cried when that happened, too. I was so looking forward to feeling vindicated after all these years of being told that I am of the lesser sex. I wanted my father to see that a woman is capable of being the most powerful leader in the world. I wanted small children, both boys and girls, to grow up not ever questioning that a woman is every bit as capable as a man. During the campaign, I heard other women say they didn’t think we should have a female POTUS. It broke my heart, and it enraged me. Maybe if they’d had the chance to actually see one in action, they could break free of the internalized misogyny they don’t even realize is there. Hillary’s nomination felt like a step forward, and her loss felt like two steps back.”
Kara M
No matter how far right or left anyone is, the necessity to, not only be open-minded, but to have the capability to listen to another’s thought process is crucial. Our own thoughts are not the only ones that matter. Our way is not the only way and our level of ethics doesn’t always match everyone else’s. We don’t have to agree on everything, but we should at least respect that there is a disagreement there and to leave it as such.
Whether you feel he makes a better president than she, or she would have made a better president than he— only one of them has received the votes to allow them into Office.
In the coming days, try to be patient and listen. Be kind and empathetic, but don’t let it change your ways and stances.
No matter what, we have a long four years ahead of us . . . Together.