Assignment 11: BOO- Amanda Byerman

This situation is the SCARIEST possibility of what could happen on a widespread basis in the upcoming presidential election~

It’s November 8, 2016. You, an non-religious, straight, white American man really feels you voted with your conscience this year. You’re feeling pretty patriotic. You went out and voted today, casting your ballot for a third party candidate because you feel they really represents how you want your country run, regardless for their potential of winning. You were given a choice between two candidates, neither of whom you liked, so you picked a third option, just for you. You spent hours upon hours telling your friends about the BS that is the American election system, and encouraging them to vote with their conscience (or yours).  Yes, Trump is an evil demagogue misogynist who promises fresh hell to anyone who doesn’t look like him, but those emails and the rampant corruption of the DNC, along with your personal dislike of Hillary’s “attitude”, all culminate in a general distrust of her. Ever since Bernie’s unjust loss, you can’t stomach voting for such a ‘nasty woman’.

You turn on MSNBC. Your candidate, you see, is holding solid at about 2% of the popular vote, according to exit polling. Your message is out there! You are among the select few who have worked so hard to get your candidate out there as a viable choice, and now you are making a real difference in the national election! The polling for Hillary and Trump seems pretty neck in neck, however... you had always supposed Hillary would win regardless of what you do, but maybe enough people would vote third party so that those pigheads on Capitol Hill would finally understand your perspective. But there’s Kentucky voting Trump, and Nevada… but that’s fine. Hillary still has a tight lead… and pretty much everybody you talked to said they were voting Hillary… that’s got to mean nothing will change, right?

But the coverage continues, and you begin to get more and more unsettled. You feel a chill creeping up your spine as you see the numbers from swing states rolling in. HOW is Trump pulling ahead? You thought everyone was voting Hillary, except for you. Your candidate is up to 5% of the vote, but Hillary is now behind by about 4%... wasn’t this election meant to be rigged for her?

By the end of the night, it’s official: Trump just barely won the majority of electoral votes. Third party candidates were able to gather up a total of 10.8% of the popular vote, but the majority of these votes were Democrats. They make no impact in the Electoral College.

For all your talk of revolution and challenging the sitting power, you never predicted this could happen. You friends text you in a panic. Facebook is in an uproar. Snapchat stories of election parties look positively funeral-esque. Trump makes his victory lap, shouting obscenities about Hillary’s concession speech. He crows of building up the military and building the wall, talking with the congress to ensure no Muslims make it past American borders. Obama tries to calm the nation, without much success.

You’re sick. You ever thought Trump would actually win. Even if he did, you figured, checks and balances ensures he’s not TOO powerful, right? Your own beliefs always seemed so important. You voted the way YOU felt comfortable with, but was that really worth it? But looking at your friends’ reactions, most people don’t seem very concerned with your beliefs right now. Your Latino friends are trying desperately to reassure themselves that they won’t be deported, but the fear still sits in their stomach like a rock, your gay friends worry that they will never be able to marry, at least for the next quarter-century, and your Muslim friends are afraid to leave their homes for fear of running into a joyful mob of Trump supporters, celebrating their victory with rounds shot into the air.

You don’t have any answers to give them. You can’t legitimize yourself any longer. All you can do is change the channel. You finally land on Fox, where you can reassure yourself that you’ll be ok- and you will be.

Because President Trump has promised to Make America Great Again- at least for people like you.