Some people find watching election results come in on Election Day to be fun. Not me. I like surprises. Hence my "HUGE" surprise this morning to see that Donald Trump will be our next President. I can’t get over it. Nor can many other Americans. This will be a bigger change than Obama (“Change We Can Believe In”). No, we didn’t get a female President, but we will -- one day, I’m certain. Hillary didn’t get not-elected because she was a woman. And she didn’t get not-elected because of Trump’s behavior towards women. There were many other reasons which everyone’s friends can no doubt list. I will be very interested to read more of the election statistics over the coming days. I’m curious about voter turnout for one. When I went to vote at about 6:30 last night, a poll worker told me that at the 6pm count, 2/3 of the township’s registered voters had already voted. And the line was still very steady. The guy in front of me at the voting booth took his young son in with him. They spent quite a bit of time in there, but I didn’t mind. I like when parents expose their children to the process. I remember my Dad taking me in with him. I can still picture the public library and its voting booth set-up.
The election results will no doubt refresh the discussion about polling. Do you need more evidence to not pay attention to polls? They are tempting, I admit; we want the gift of foresight. But they probably do more harm than good. Polling seems increasingly unreliable. One reason cited for that is a low response rate because of cell phones. We can see pollsters coming now before we answer the phone and we ignore their calls! We’re also much more worried about confidentiality and personal security.
The CEO of J&J sent out an employee email about the election today. In it, he reminded us of the inscription on the US national seal: E Pluribus Unum – from many, one. I found that to be appropriate. From here, we go forward and deal with challenges and opportunities alike, and together. Trump supporters should not gloat. Clinton supporters should not incite violence. Yes, the head of the country makes a difference, but the success of the US government does not begin/end at the one person who is President. We have a durable system of checks and balances and I trust in that to keep us from straying too far afield in any one direction. I pray Trump puts good, sensible, smart people around him and that he actually listens to them. I pray he starts to act like a human being. Nobody will like everything over the next four years, but I hope somehow we can start to get along better so we don't replay this in four years.
The election results will no doubt refresh the discussion about polling. Do you need more evidence to not pay attention to polls? They are tempting, I admit; we want the gift of foresight. But they probably do more harm than good. Polling seems increasingly unreliable. One reason cited for that is a low response rate because of cell phones. We can see pollsters coming now before we answer the phone and we ignore their calls! We’re also much more worried about confidentiality and personal security.
The CEO of J&J sent out an employee email about the election today. In it, he reminded us of the inscription on the US national seal: E Pluribus Unum – from many, one. I found that to be appropriate. From here, we go forward and deal with challenges and opportunities alike, and together. Trump supporters should not gloat. Clinton supporters should not incite violence. Yes, the head of the country makes a difference, but the success of the US government does not begin/end at the one person who is President. We have a durable system of checks and balances and I trust in that to keep us from straying too far afield in any one direction. I pray Trump puts good, sensible, smart people around him and that he actually listens to them. I pray he starts to act like a human being. Nobody will like everything over the next four years, but I hope somehow we can start to get along better so we don't replay this in four years.