This past election was a close one but many have thought that it was unfair. President-Elect Donald Trump has made some clear points about what he wants to do with the power of the presidency but he also has contradicted himself with his own words. This 2016 election and the election from 2012 with Barack Obama and Mitt Romney were close. The 2016 election was so close that Hillary Clinton actually won more popular votes. How do we compare this most recent choice of candidates with past elections? With each election, it seems that America is growing more deeply divided.  Even within the Democratic party and the Republican party there is less agreement.  Remember that Hillary Clinton ran against Barack Obama in the 2008 election.  Remember that Mitt Romney spoke out against Donald Trump as the Republican nominee in 2016.   What motivates the American voter and why are they so divided?

http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/president

http://www.people-press.org/2016/11/10/a-divided-and-pessimistic-electorate/1-11/

This graph is very interesting. It shows how different Trump and Hillary really are or at least it shows the differences in their voters. These are two completely opposite people. In the first half of this graph, it shows Trump values compared to Clinton  values. When you go back and look at the second half of the graph Hilary is a much stronger supporter on these issues than Trump.

Despite Romney’s public dis of Trump, Romney had a couple things that he agreed with Trump on. For example, they agreed strongly on economic issues. Even though they both agree on individual rights, Mitt Romney is still a little more conservative than Donald Trump. They also have the same agreement on domestic issues. With economic issues, Mitt Romney is more strong and consistent with his platform than Trump.

http://presidential-candidates.insidegov.com/compare/5-70/Mitt-Romney-vs-Donald-Trump

What are similarities between Obama and Hillary? What is surprising is that both of these candidates ran against each other in 2012, even though they are both part of the Democratic party. Just like the Trump and Romney comparison, both Obama and Hillary have strong but similar opinions on economic issues. The split seems to be over personality and personal history.

Of these two presidential candidates, Hillary Clinton had the longer running campaign by two days. Compared to all other declared 2016 presidential candidates, Clinton’s campaign run was longer than average (avg. 9 months). It was also longer than that of the average Democratic Party candidate in 2016.

When looking solely at the candidates’ ( in 2012 comapared to 2016 )official campaign committees, Barack Obama raised a total of $739M compared to the $513M Hillary Clinton brought in. This is a $225M difference.

http://presidential-candidates.insidegov.com/compare/1-40/Barack-Obama-vs-Hillary-Clinton

Is it all in the money?  Are American politics just about marketing a message or do the voters opinions and feelings actually have something to do with it?

What has happened cannot be changed; it can only be used as a weapon of division or a tool of understanding our differences as Americans.  Yes, many people are mad, but also many people are happy. At the end of the election, Hillary got more people’s votes but less electoral votes. Many citizens could simply not vote for either candidate. Trump got less popular votes but more electoral votes.

This video shows some of the creative ways Americans are expressing their thoughts and emotions about the results of the 2016 Presidential election and the legacy of 8 years with President Obama.  What is President Obama thinking but not saying publicly?  This song is very poetic in how it addresses that question.

Many people thought that Hilary was going to win including myself. It was shocking to hear the next morning that Trump won. But was either candidate any better than the other? Is Trump going to be better than Obama? Only time will tell. Many people thought that Obama was going to mess things up and do all of this bad stuff to America. It’s very interesting to see what will come our way during this next presidential term.

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/09/501476969/how-u-s-demographic-changes-explain-election-results