Editorial: Feeling blue after a red election
Kelsey Rogers / Arts & Culture Editor
Pulse…Check. Deep breath, we survived. It has been a long road, and we can all can begin the grieving process, regardless of which candidate you supported in this historic Presidential election.
As many have expressed on election day, despite an extremely divided and hostile race, we need to keep in mind that this is still politics, and we need to prioritize relationships among friends and family over the outcome of Tuesday night’s election.
So many college students have been in extremely difficult positions where their politics opposed that of their family members. Please, do not let Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump ignite a fire on Thanksgiving. Do not be angered by people voting differently than you, be grateful for your freedom to vote at all.
Americans still have a very long four years ahead of us, and change is coming whether you support it or not.
Whether your heart leans red or blue, we all have a silver lining. That is, our country has experienced an incredible increase in voter turnout. This tense race excited many dormant citizens who previously had no interest in engaging with government.
One can only assume that the next four years will, at the very least, have a more accurate reflection of American ideals.
Personally, I am not proud to say that. However, no one can deny that participating in our democratic government is a good thing. I was able to sleep (a little) last night after seeing Barrack Obama’s video in which he comforted an irate country on election day. He too, applauded the country for the surge of engagement in politics, regardless of your chosen party. Obama also urged Americans to have respect for one another, and to treat each other not as a different political party, but as fellow Americans.
As we all watched the poll count increase, and our presidential candidates constantly take the lead, and lose the lead, on key states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and of course Florida, many of us seemed to forget that this an election that makes a decision that affects the next four year in America. Four years of politics, in my opinion, is not worth a lifetime of rapport in our social circles.
I once heard a comment saying that liberals are so open-mined that their brains fall out. I ask myself, would conservatives still believe so, if our open minds were making room for considering a conservative opinion?
Look out for one another, RWU.
