PRO-TRUMP: Jordan Slobodinsky

Finally, the election is over. After months and month of campaigning and stressing, Donald Trump is the President of the United States. It’s an unexpected outcome to say the least, and that’s coming from a registered Republican who voted for Trump.

The mindset going into election day was that Hillary Clinton was going to win by a landslide. I suppose that I realized that Trump was going to win after the results from Ohio and Florida.

The American people have spoken by voting Trump in using the electoral vote. By connecting with the American people and bringing up issues that needed to be talked about, Trump has become the Commander in Chief of this great nation.

It was no surprise to see Trump win in the so-called “Bible Belt” section of America. What was surprising was to see states like the Ohio and Florida go red. Ohio is a state that has been a deciding factor in past elections, and Florida is a constant toss-up between Democrat and Republican.

It’s satisfying to see the country make the right decision in electing Trump, and seeing some non-traditional states turn red makes it all the more sweeter.

This is a victory that the American people needed, and one that will prove to benefit our nation in the years to come. We are about to see the tide of our nation turn, and it is all for the better.

Though some may see this as the end of our nation, this is the beginning of a stronger America. Our military will now have the resources it needs to properly defeat ISIS, and perhaps end the United States involvement in the Middle East.

We are now on the verge of an era that could put an end to illegal immigrants entering our country so easily. As a Republican, I am glad to see the ideas of a utopian society now be tossed to the side.

Realism is about to take over this country, and that is the mindset we have needed for the last eight years.

Clinton ran a good campaign, and I can respect her for that. However, Trump ran a campaign that was for the people, not the politician.

The election has come to a close, and we can officially say that the best candidate won.

PRO CLINTON: Laura Byko

Donald Trump, the man famous for a lifetime of bankruptcy, sexual assault, xenophobia and racism, the man who is allergic to the truth even when clearly corrected, is our next president of the United States.

This means that life will most likely soon become worse for women, Muslims, Sikhs, black people, Hispanic people, queer people, transgender people, the poor and essentially anyone who is not a reasonably wealthy straight white man.

It’s hard not to feel, right now, as though a majority of Americans have chosen to regress the country by around fifty years, to when people were less gay, less brown, and less likely to be feminists.

It’s sickening.

Hillary Clinton is a flawed human and a flawed politician. She is overly secretive, and her hawkish foreign policy belies her ostensibly progressive aims. She is a Democrat, which is apparently a disqualifying factor for some people.

But she has never been accused of sexual assault. She has never proposed a complete ban on Muslims entering the country, even those who are American citizens. She has never called Mexicans rapists. She has never said that women who have miscarriages should be forced to have a funeral for their fetuses, as Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, has said. She has never stoked hatred for journalists.

So we have turned ourselves into a nation that would rather be led by an overt bigot than by a flawed woman. It’s a tragedy for our nation. It’s even more of a tragedy for the individuals who will be affected every day: Muslims who will face increased scrutiny, Hispanics here both legally and illegally faced with deportation.

We have elected a candidate endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party. We have elected the poster child for those who hate nonwhite people and women.

I am 22 years old. My personal view of history is mostly short. But I believe that allowing partisan politics to outweigh basic human decency will mark a historically dark chapter in America’s history.

Donald Trump has opened the floodgates for open hatred of minorities in our elected officials. All that’s left to do is fight on, and hope that we survive the next four years.