Examining hateful rhetoric in the political system

Love should trump hate

Disappointed. Distraught. Devastated. None of these words even begin to describe how I felt after last week’s election results. Given the choice between qualified Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and media personality Donald Trump, America chose Trump.

With all of the diversity in modern America, how could this even be possible?

I say blame the electoral college. 

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the presidential election process in the United States, the electoral college is a system that was put in place by the founding fathers of America around the same time as they wrote the Constitution.

If it’s so old, why is it still around? That’s an excellent question and one that I’ve asked myself a number of times. The truth is that amending the Constitution is just so friggin’ hard. In order to change the electoral college process, it would take a joint resolution proposed by Congress with two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate. It would then have to be ratified by three-quarters of the states in order to be a legal part of the Constitution. Basically it’s a long shot.

So, if we can’t change it, we might as well understand how it works. Well, according to the Constitution, each state is allocated a number of electors equal to the combined total of their representatives in the House and the Senate. In contemporary elections, electors are expected—and in some cases required—to vote for the candidate whose party nominated them. However, they are not constitutionally bound to do so, and very rarely, you will see what is called a faithless elector voting for the opposite party to make a point. A faithless elector has never decided the outcome of a presidential election, however, this is what a lot of Americans are hoping for come December.

Even though Secretary Clinton amassed more of the popular vote than her opponent, most political commentators can’t see the electoral college swinging her way.It looks like “President Trump” is going to become a household name.

With Trump’s obvious lack of political experience, I can’t help but reminisce about what was said about Prime Minister Trudeau during last year’s election. “He’s just not ready,” they said. But somehow, his sunny optimism resonated with voters who were looking for a change.

While I would say the same thing about Trump, what seemed to resonate with voters in the U.S. was his misogynistic hatred and blatant racism.

I can’t help but consider myself lucky that the political freshman Canada ended up with is nothing like Trump. In fact, he may be the anti-Trump.Let’s compare them for just a minute.

Back in February, Prime Minister Trudeau told Maclean’s, “I don’t think it comes as a surprise to anybody that I stand firmly against the politics of division, the politics of fear, the politics of intolerance or hateful rhetoric.”

Meanwhile, Trump is making presidential announcment speeches saying things like, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,” according to The Washington Post in 2015.

See any differences?

On the subject of gender and sexuality, which was a major issue in this election given that one of the candidates was a woman, the two leaders differ almost completely. While Trudeau created a gender equal cabinet and walked with his fellow citizens in the Pride Parade, Trump was objectifying women and being accused of several sexual assaults.

It will definitely be interesting to see how these two disparate men work together in the coming years. I’m just glad to be on the Canadian side of it all.

To my American friends, I truly hope president-elect Trump does great things for America. Because hoping he fails is like getting on a plane and hoping the engines kick out.

Photo courtesy of cc2.0alexguibord_ccbySA4.0Michaelvadon.0-1.