fc /Ae7i£diM HemM
November 9, 2016
45th President of the
Emily Chilton, Editor in Chief
College students this
year, including those here at
Meredith, experienced the first
presidential election in which
they were eligible to vote. As
it came closer to the election,
many older adults expressed
regret that all of us had such
terrible candidates to choose
from in this new experience.
One of the oft-repeated
sentiments of this presidential
race was how universally
disliked both candidates were;
somehow, the two major party
nominees were not the ideal
candidates when the majority of
United States Is...
the country’s opinion was taken
into account. In addition, a wide
range of possible Republican
party nominees split what may
have otherwise been a united
party.
Both candidates were
forced to rehash and debunk
multiple scandals that took
place before they even made
it near the White House. It has
been one of the most polarized,
weird, and emotional races
in the 228 years that America
has been electing presidents
under this Constitution. While
all United States elections are
historic, the country knew going
into this election that it would be
one for the record books.
In an election that was
wrongly predicted by almost
every major news outlet,
Donald J. Trump has been
voted in as the 45th president
of the United States. In addition,
Congress has remained
majority Republican. Doubtless,
the road that led to an electoral
college swing unexpected by
anyone would take books to
analyze and assess. For now,
here are the facts: Donald
Trump won with a majority of
electoral votes and over one
million more popular votes that
Hillary Clinton. He took several
swing states, including North
Carolina, Florida, and Ohio,
which arguably began the trend
of surprising results throughout
the night. Responses to the
result have been varying, and
a breadth of them would take
many more words than this
front page will allow.
Stay tuned to the
Meredith Herald website,
meredithherald.wordpress.com,
for continuing election coverage
if differing results develop.
Stars Hollow Votes
Teressa Berton, Staff Writer
As this election season
comes to a close, we have
seen our nation split down the
middle, leading to utter turmoil
and extreme headache. But
now that it’s all said and done,
we couldn’t help but wonder
how this the election would
have played out in our favorite
television town. Stars Hollow,
from the popular series Gilmore
Girls.
To determine the results
of the Gilmore Girls election,
we assembled a panel of
aficionados and selected
50 prominent members of
the Gilmore Girls community
as representatives of the
population. When contemplating
the implications of the current
Stars Hollow population, we
believe that most demographics
were accurately represented,
including those who would
have recently come age, like
April Nardini. After our final
tally, we foresaw Jill Stein, the
Green Party candidate, taking
4% of the vote; Libertarian
Gary Johnson taking 12%;
Republican Donald Trump
taking 38%; and finally, the
Democratic Party candidate
Hillary Clinton winning Stars
Hollow with 46%, assuming
8% of the population would not
vote.
When speculating on
the political landscape of the
Gilmore Girls universe we found
the majority of our Trump voters
hailed from the wealthy families
of Connecticut. We assumed
that the majority of the wealthier
citizens would be supportive
of Trump’s tax breaks, being
in favor of Trumped up trickle
down economics.’ Yet, we found
an outlier in Emily Gilmore; it
seemed likely that after the
death of her husband seems
to have found new sensibilities
and would have been swayed
to the Clinton cause.
While these election
results were not reflective of
the national election, we hope
that these speculative results of
the Stars Hollow election keep
you in high spirits as we look
onward to the next four years
and what they may bring to
Stars Hollow and our nation.
Credit to Sarah Kiser
A Letter From the Editor
My dear Meredith sisters,
faculty, and staff:
I write this with a heavy
heart. I would like to preface
this by saying that I am in no
way representative of the views
of this paper as a body, which
has striven to be non-partisan
and only publish opinions when
they were clearly marked as
opinions of individuals. This
letter is truly my opinion, which
I feel justified in giving as the
editor-in-chief.
We as a nation have
made a grave mistake. I am
perfectly aware of and even
understand many of the
reasons to have voted for
Donald Trump, and those to
not vote for Hillary Clinton. To
be very personal, although
I am registered unaffiliated,
many of my personal beliefs
lean decidedly conservative.
Regardless, I am bewildered by
the justifications made by many
in order to vote for Trump. The
world that Donald Trump has
proposed for Americans to live
in is only safe and welcoming
to the white, male, Christian
population of this country.
Specific suggested policies of
his have targeted the LGBTQ-i-
community, the Hispanic
population, African-Americans,
and Muslims. His words and
actions have threatened and
degraded women and the
disabled. Survivors of the
Holocaust have noted his
similarity to Hitler. He has
only reluctantly disavowed the
support of KKK leaders. He has
ties to Russia and Putin that
cannot be denied. I could go on.
My fellow Americans,
I am saddened. I am
disappointed. I am scared, not
even for myself, but for those
who could possibly be affected
by the policies that could be put
in place by a Trump presidency
with the support of a Republican
congress.
This is a call for grace
and understanding on the part
of our community for those
who voted for either candidate.
In the coming weeks, I am
begging you to be open-
minded, to have empathy for
your fellow human beings.
I implore you to be ready,
beginning in January of 2017,
to recognize policies and
initiatives that may threaten the
natural rights of others, and
protest them if they come. For
the country’s sake, be willing
to see and empathize with the
experiences of those around
you. I am at a loss for more
words, so please consider
these from a beloved Disney
princess: “Have courage and be
kind.”
Yours truly,
Emily K. Chilton