The 2016 Presidential Election

The 2016 United States Presidential election was one of the most shocking elections in modern political history. This election marked the peak of political polarization with a large divide between Republicans and Democrats. According to the U.S. News, in the past 60 years there has not been an election where voters stood further apart on which nominees they support. While an overwhelming majority of the United States believed there was not one strong presidential candidate in this election, when voters were surveyed the distinction between both candidates became increasingly apparent with 22% of surveyors standing with Hillary Clinton and 16% standing with Donald Trump. Despite tensions leading up to the election in November, the results were shocking. Hillary Clinton took the popular vote by merely 2.9 million votes, however, Donald Trump won by electoral votes. Not only did this deepen contention between opposing sides post-election, it called into question the United State's long running system of the electoral college, a voting process that has been controversial and debated for years. As 2016 winds down, it will be interesting to see what effect this has on our social and political climate in the upcoming 4 years.