Many did not give Donald Trump much of a chance of winning the election. Whether observing it with most of the world on the news or through Internet updates, or first-hand at a Clinton Election Day event in New York City, more people than you’d think were surprised by the nomination of President-elect Donald Trump, considering his support from 58 percent of Chautauqua County.

Janet Mayer, Manager of IT Policies and IT Project Portfolio at the State University of New York at Fredonia, took a train Tuesday morning to New York City, where she joined in the excitement with thousands of other people who were sure that Hillary Clinton was going to be the next, and first-ever female, president.

“There were thousands of people, many who had travelled far and waited in various lines since 7 a.m.,” said Mayer in an OBSERVER interview via email. “…The mood early in the day was uncertain and hopeful. Once the event started, people got really excited.”

However, the excitement did not last as it was starting to become obvious later in the evening that Clinton’s chances of becoming the next President-elect were getting slimmer.

Graphic by Steve Bradley, Adirondack Daily Enterprise Pictured is a county-by-county presidential voting map of New York state. Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties backed Donald Trump, while Erie County backed Hillary Clinton.

“Things got somber about 11:30 p.m. They had passed out small flags earlier in the evening and many people piled them on tables and left them at (Jacob K. Javits Convention Center) as the results indicated that Clinton probably would not win,” said Mayer.

Dr. David Rankin, chair of the Department of Politics and International Affairs at SUNY Fredonia, also felt as if Trump’s odds were stacked against him.

“I felt that Trump’s odds of winning the presidential election heading into Election Day were highly unlikely. Many predictive models put Trump’s probability of winning anywhere from 10-25 percent,” said Rankin. “…No Republican has ever won the presidency without Ohio and no Democrat since JFK. … The fact that Trump not only ran the table on the must-win states, but also picked up Michigan and Wisconsin took all election forecasts by surprise, and you could see the genuine shock on the faces of election night media analysts as Trump won Florida, then North Carolina, and finally closed the deal late into the night with Pennsylvania — a state thought to be out of Trump’s reach.”

“I thought there was a strong chance Clinton would win, based on polling information and the differences in qualifications, debate performance and temperaments of the two candidates,” said Mayer. “…I was disappointed that our thickest glass ceiling remained intact. I remain concerned about the climate that’s been created for people of color, the LGBTQ community, families and, of course, women.”

Emily VanDette, Associate Professor of English at SUNY Fredonia, shares in Mayer’s concern for the number of minority communities, and mentions women specifically, and how being a woman alone affected Clinton’s campaign greatly.

“That a woman was a major party nominee — and apparently won the popular vote in the nation — is a significant milestone. Men and women born before the passing of the 19th amendment got to cast a vote for her on Tuesday, and that is important,” VanDette said via email.

VanDette then went on to explain how Clinton’s gender played a role in the backlash she seemed to constantly receive, and how if gender had been taken out of the equation, and people voted based on information, campaigns and platforms alone, Clinton would have won — just like she, and over 50 percent of Americans, expected her to have.

“I won’t sugar coat it, of course Hillary’s gender impacted the disproportionate attention and exaggerated responses to the flaws in her candidacy. The insidious thing about misogyny is that it is so deeply engrained in the culture that even women can perpetuate it. Many people, whether they are conscious of it or not, still have a hard time accepting the image of a woman in power,” said VanDette.

“For me, one of the saddest moments in this election was Hillary’s reminder to little girls, during her concession speech, that they are valued and can follow their dreams. It’s sad to think that we still need to make that point in 2016,” she continued. “But it continues to be a relevant and important message, not just because we didn’t see a woman elected president this time, but because of the violently sexist undertones of the criticism and actual threats leveled at her for months, and the parallel messages of predatory and objectifying attitudes about women that continually streamed from the candidate who won.”

The hopeful end-result, though, is a successful presidency for Trump, with hopes that he really will “Make America Great Again,” like so many believe.

“Obama has tried to set a tone for the nation in stating, ‘We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country. The peaceful transition of power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy.'” quoted Ranking. “And as Hillary Clinton highlighted in her concession speech, ‘Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power and we don’t just respect that, we cherish it. It also enshrines other things: the rule of law, the principle that we are equal in rights and dignity, freedom of worship and expression. We respect and cherish these values too and we must defend them.’

“Whatever one thinks or anticipates of Trump’s election as 45th president of the United States, it’s also important to understand that American democracy doesn’t begin and end with the presidential election every four years. The true strength of our democracy depends on the depth of our engagement in it,” Rankin said.

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