The Election

Many years ago, I was the “assistant to the assistant coach” of my son’s soccer team.

One thing I often mentioned to the players and parents was this: play to win, learn to lose. In other words, the game would be about both striving and learning character.

I’m thinking of that phrase as I awoke this morning and learned about the election results. I went to bed at 9 p.m. thinking the election would go one way, and awoke my usual early hour this morning to see everything shift.

We live in a system, as Lincoln said, that is about government “by the people, for the people.” Well, the people have spoken. And, we have to accept the decision. We may not like it, but that’s the reality.

So, what happened? The New York Times has put out some interesting data on what happened with the election vs. 2004, 2008 and 2012 (link here).

The short answer is two-fold. First, Trump did better with minorities than Romney.

minority-vote

Second, Trump didn’t lose that much ground among females.

vote-by-gender

I’m a bit surprised by the former, but am absolutely stunned by the latter. The polls were completely off the mark. I think that is because many people were planning to vote for Trump but were too embarrassed to say so to pollsters. This Tweet is very interesting:

It is what it is.

Whether you feel elated or crushed this morning, my personal takeaway, about which I’ve written before, is that many people are desperate for change. Many economic policies have not “trickled down” to the bulk of the population. Many people feel uncertain.

That’s why many voted for a high-risk candidate who vowed to shake up the system. And, other voters are now shaken.

I think the Tweet below reflects what I think. Lean in to improve things vs. giving up or running away. I’ve decided not to fall into the mental trap of “us vs. them.” We’re all stuck in this awkward marriage, but let’s choose to make it work.

Hang in there, America. We’re in new territory.

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