Never say never

In case you haven’t heard, America has a new President. Donald Trump. Not what many people had hoped for or expected but to echo the cliché, that’s democracy for you. Hillary Clinton and her team threw everything into her campaign but she lost, for many reasons. As qualified as she is with over 30 years’ experience, with millions of dollars and more volunteers than her opponent on top of nearly every celebrity and media outlet campaigning for her, she failed to beat Donald Trump. Everyone will tell you they never ever thought Trump would win. Surely, Americans wouldn’t elect a tax evader and someone accused of sexual assault by a number of women. Mexicans, Muslims, African-Americans and many other minorities swore they wouldn’t support him. Well, he was elected and who knows, he might even win a second term but that’s a long way off. For now, it still hasn’t sunk in. There are many things to learn from this election though, regardless of who you wanted to win and whether you’re American or not. Trump’s supporters can’t believe he pulled it off while the “Never Trump” camp can’t believe he triumphed and that right there is the lesson for all of us. Never say never because nothing is impossible. Many people around the world willed Hillary to win until a lot of dirt was exposed. Without WikiLeaks, she certainly would have won but I think the email hacks that revealed many of her flaws put many voters off. I also think the Clinton camp took the election for granted, as did many voters who assumed only crazy people would turn out for Trump. As with Brexit earlier this year, many of us are still in shock. Listening to Hillary Clinton’s concession speech, you could tell that it was painful and hard to rally her supporters to get behind Donald Trump whom she now refers to as “our president”, something she has had to do twice, having lost to Barack Obama in the 2008 Democratic Party Primary. To borrow Trump’s mantra, I guess that’s what makes America great. The fact that you have to make peace with your opponent within hours of losing to them. I’ve never been in a position where I had to make the kind of call Hillary made to congratulate Trump. I honestly don’t know if I would have the maturity to do the same. I think I would cry, which would probably only play into bigots’ hands since we as women are already considered “the weaker” sex so I have to commend her for keeping it together. Life goes on as the saying goes and what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. Hillary is a strong woman. She will be okay, unless Trump makes good on his campaign promise to “put her in jail.” The election of Donald Trump will continue to be a talking point but so will other pressing global issues. After Brexit and Trump’s victory, I honestly don’t think anything else can be as stunning but who knows?

Lifestyle

Never say never