Donald Trump and the 2016 Election by @PandaPSU

President-Elect Donald Trump (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Like many of you, I never felt great about either major party candidate in this year's election. They both have checkered pasts. They both have major policy issues that I disagree with. That said, right or wrong, good or bad, these were our two choices. Yes, Gary Johnson and Jill Stein were technically on the ballot, but this wasn't a time to waste my vote. I'm not judging you for voting for either of those two (or anyone for that matter), I can certainly see why you would and why it would be easier to reconcile that at the end of day. Until our political system changes, however, I knew a third party vote of any sort would be a wasted one. That wasn't a chance I was willing to take in a historic election like this one.

To be honest, I never thought this day would come...I never thought it would even come close.

One of my first tweets on the subject from July 2015

Every time I thought America would see the light, he would clear another hurdle. He cleared the primary debates. He won the GOP nomination. He made it through a multitude of times where he said something racist or sexist. He made it through allegations his Trump University ripped off students. He sailed through the presidential debates without having to delve into policy very much, if at all. He even rose above sexual assault allegations a month before the election. Every road block that seemed like it would deliver the death blow, he rose above it. 

The one common thread that kept him at the top and always a viable threat, he played to America's fears (ISIS and terrorism), and he became the voice and the face of change so many Americans wanted. Hey, listen, I get it folks. Ask anyone about our government, and they will have a variety of things they would like to change. In a lot of ways, it makes sense to finally have someone rise up against the establishment, right? I get it and I agree. But, for me, that person was never going to be Donald Trump. Why? 

Donald Trump ran a campaign that quite frankly took every political science textbook and threw it into a fire. He knew America was tired. He knew America was angry. He knew it didn't really matter what he did or said, as long as he promised change. I often asked myself or my wife, "Can you believe he just said that?" I would look at the next poll and his numbers would go up! Even in the demographic he just slandered. He was bulletproof because people have had enough.

I could not get behind a man that was so outwardly sexist and racist toward so many. I have heard many defenses along the lines of, "He's just saying that stuff. He won't actually go through with it." All I can say is that I hope you are all correct, but even if he does none of the things he said, he still gave a voice to a lot of Americans that actually hold those beliefs. Now, like so many, I have to figure out a way to tell my daughter why we put the leader of the free world into Oval Office who has made despicable comments about women (weight, looks, pregnancy, sexual assault, etc.) Of course, he has made similar statements or declarations about a variety of groups.

This was such a weird election because I made my mind up as early as I ever have. I was never enamored with Hillary Clinton, and truth be told, any other election year, she would not have even been a blip on my radar. But, this was never about a normal presidential election. I never made it to actually eyeballing policies. I had to place my vote against the ideals of the man running, for everything he said he would stand for as President. 

My hope is that our country can and will come together. Now is not the time to attack one another for any reason. Folks are nervous. Folks are scared. They have every right to be. People are scared of the unknown, and as of right now, all we can go on is words. We just have to hope that Donald J. Trump is not a man of his word.

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Thanks for reading, and God Bless America.

-Jim