silent majority

Why the “Silent Majority” Made Themselves Heard

By Sophie Goldman and Linnea Mumma

In a time where the nation is divided, controversial, and unsteady it is easy to take sides, to cast blame, to have certain expectations and to hold people accountable for their decisions. It is easy to call others names and form assumptions about them based off of knowing nothing about the other side because one may be so angry, so hurt, and so confused. It is so easy to hate. The day that Donald Trump was elected as the nation’s 45th President, many hearts broke. Some cried, others rejoiced, many felt indifferent. And still the question rings in the minds of many: Why did this happen? How could a man with so many tendentious views be suddenly in charge of the future of this country? To label all of those who voted for Trump as misogynistic, racist, xenophobic, or immoral is unjust. America is a place that is representative of freedom; this nation strove for independence and gained it, and earned its title as land of the free. In America, there are clearly distinct and divisive perspectives that ultimately make it the great nation that it is: a nation that has the ability to see all sides of a matter. Whether these contrasting views be labeled as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ or ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ makes no difference; the point being that not everyone is going to think the same way. And this is the beauty of perspectivism.

Donald Trump represented a threat to the system. He was seen as someone who had the capability to obstruct the foundation that Barack Obama laid down. Many citizens felt that Obama was ignoring them, that he was denying them of potential job opportunities, that he was not listening, that he was being careless. Hillary Clinton was, to some, a mere repeat of Obama. When asked about how Obama and his administration had failed, the majority of Trump supporters interviewed were against Obamacare. “The biggest failure that can be put directly on Obama is the mandatory ‘Obamacare’ health care system. The system has been a disaster since it began and it’s forcing a lot of working people to lose the best health care coverage due to higher costs.” Donald Trump’s promise to repeal Obamacare once he was in office demonstrated to people, especially working class citizens, that he would acquiesce to their needs. Though Hillary Clinton is different from Obama, many projected Obama’s views onto her.

Many Trump supporters did not dislike Hillary Clinton simply because they believed her presidential term would be a repeat of Obama’s policies; while they believed that would be the case, they also felt that Secretary Clinton was untrustworthy, and that the FBI’s ongoing investigation of her whilst she was running made her seem unfit for the role of Commander-in-Chief. One man stated, “Clinton’s long history of dishonesty and inability and unwillingness to admit mistakes is a very unattractive feature in politicians.” About 80% of the people interviewed had a problem with what they felt was Clinton’s consistent dishonesty, and while they felt that neither of the candidates were particularly good ones, they hoped Trump’s lack of history as a politician might be more of a help than a detriment in that he would not continue the cycle of lying and corruption that exists when it comes to politicians.

In a democracy, it is sometimes hard to hear the other side when one is shouting as loud as they can. The 2016 election was one in which the “silent majority” decided to make itself heard; the low probability of Donald Trump’s success before the votes began to roll in made his victory all the more shocking, and also gave new power to the large group of people that few expected to so drastically turn the tide of this election. To hear these people, to acknowledge their reasons for going against the voices that were shouting “I’m with her” across the nation, maintains the democratic values that have ruled this nation since it gained its independence, and also reiterates to the young, vocal, hopeful generation the power that they too can have to change America for the better, despite the restrictive voices that frequently tell them no.