Every four years the process starts over again: speeches, debates, rallies, and votes.

On November 8th, 2016 at 2:00 am Donald J. Trump was announced the president-elect of the United States. It was a night where people both celebrated and mourned. Those in celebration didn’t think twice about the election process, but those in mourning asked “How did Hillary lose?” and “What could she have done better?”  

News programs started answering these questions immediately after the election took place. According to CNN, Clinton’s loss was due to the numbers. Going into the election Clinton had hoped to gain the votes from the Obama Coalition, which would guarantee her the next presidency. CNN stated, “African-American, Latino and younger voters failed to show up at the polls in sufficient numbers Tuesday to propel Clinton into the White House.”

Furthermore, CNN reported that Trump got the support of 62% white non-college educated women compared to Clinton’s 34%. According to the same poll, Clinton won white college educated women by a margin of 6%. This election resulted in the turnout of women being 1 point higher than in 2012. However, Clinton got the support of 54% women compared to Obama’s 55%. “Clinton’s allies and advisers realized early on that the history- making nature of her candidacy was not generating much excitement among voters– certainly not in the same way that electing the first African-American president had galvanized democratic voters around Barack Obama in 2008,” stated CNN.   

Although numbers contributed to Clinton’s loss, her actions in the past influenced the voters according to The Star. Clinton’s supporters always thought the email scandal and FBI investigation was blown out of proportion, but according to the exit polls it “bothered” six out of every  ten voters. The investigation lead some people to believe she was elusive and dishonest. On top of that, according to The Guardian, some believe that Clinton was too focused on selling herself and that her message only started becoming effective due to Trump’s “divisiveness”.

“The campaign’s strongest message was that she was uniquely qualified to become president. This was largely true, especially when compared to the grotesquely inexperienced Donald Trump, but big ideas took a backstage role,” stated The Guardian.

As seen in the past, the majority of our presidents have come from a political background, but according to British Broadcasting Company (BBC) news, the people wanted a change. Voters in Pennsylvania said that they voted for Trump because he was a businessman and he was different from Clinton’s political experience.  BBC news seems to believe that Clinton’s “long” political career built up mistrust and hatred towards her, affecting who supported her and the votes she received.

BBC stated, “she tried to repackage herself, to soften her image, but she is not a natural campaigner and struggled to connect with the voters.”