SFR 394: How It All Went Wrong

–In our first show back after Bobby fled the Trump state of Ohio for the Trump state of Florida for vacation, we spend the entire nearly two hours discussing the U.S. presidential election results. The conversation goes back and forth, veering between different related topics and back again. But, in no particular order, we talked about the following:
–We hearken back to our last show, on the 5th of November, and talk about how Bobby was warning that Trump would win the election. Jason says Bobby is the one person he heard that consistently said he feared Trump would win, while so many others felt Hillary had it “in the bag.”
–How did we start and end the night of November 8th? Definitely stunned. Jason says he didn’t expect her to win Florida or Ohio, but was shocked when Trump won states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin…places that were supposed to be locked up for Clinton.
–Who do you blame for the election results? Well, we definitely have some harsh words for the “protest voters.” Those who normally would vote Democrat, but because they were either sore about Bernie not being in the race or just didn’t like Hillary, cast a vote for Gary Johnson or Jill Stein to “send a message,” and then pouted when Trump won. We also had unkind words for those who felt the candidates “were all the same,” and decided not to vote at all, but still have gotten angry enough to take to the streets to whine and complain about the Electoral College. But mostly we blame Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party for running an uninspiring and lazy campaign focused too much on identity politics and a kind of “prevent defense.”
–Speaking of the Electoral College, should it be abolished and replaced with merely a popularity contest? Bobby admits to feeling that pull himself, especially knowing that Hillary will probably end up with around a 2 million vote advantage. Jason understands how some may like to tweak it, but ultimately thinks the EC forces candidates to appeal to a wider array of people in different areas of the nation. Instead of running up the score in a few of the largest states, candidates have to build coalitions. Besides, we all knew the rules before the election happened, so there isn’t much use whining now just because it didn’t go our way.
–Is Trump “our President” even if we didn’t vote for him?
–Mike Pence was booed and then publicly lectured at a performance of “Hamilton.” Trump says a theater should be a safe space, and demands an apology!
–Liberals, we think rightly, believe that it’s much more difficult to be fearful of or caricature gay people, black people, and other minorities if you get to know and interact with them. Shouldn’t this election, then, give us all extra motivation to get to know and interact with folks of a different political persuasion, too?