Politics

On November 9, I sadly took our Hillary sign down from our front yard. It had been there for months. We all got used to it.  The sign was up early, before the Halloween decorations, and then held its ground with the gravestones that dotted our front lawn. And now the Clinton campaign is dead, matching the Halloween décor.

Election night was a typical busy midweek night for us. Swim practice, football practice, our late  astronomy course. When we went into the course, all the indications were blue but when we came out the map had changed. Everything that was a swing state was red. We were shocked. Our logic went something like this: New Jersey with all its Trump signs still went for Clinton, so Wisconsin with all of its Clinton signs, at least in Milwaukee, would most definitely go for Clinton.

The next day I gathered myself before going in to tell the kids the news. The girls started to cry and I tried to reassure them. Somehow the whole world felt different. Royce looked down at her president placemat at breakfast and could not imagine the spot next to Obama. Of course, our kids remember the election in 2008. We were living in Hong Kong and school was let out and all the kids watched in the gym. Getting out of class made for a very favorable impression that easily lasted for both terms.

As we drove the day after election and discussed it a bit in the car, Royce somehow pinged on the idea of a class ceiling, perhaps an actual glass ceiling. The thought of this big handmade structure not being broken destroyed her. She cried the entire car ride. We talked about white non-college educated males supporting Trump and then promptly had to reassure Adam he was not the demographic that we were talking about…though of course he is white male and far from college.

In coming up with the positive, our family immediately thought of Royce, who has long professed to wanting to be the first woman president of the US. She was late to get behind Hillary, supporting Bernie for as long as possible, strictly on the basis of gender. Other family friends also said they too thought of Royce’s possible career as one of the positives of the day after. We are still pretty crafty at this house. Royce’s political signs are sure to be popping up soon. I would be remiss not to mention Adam is the one who ran for political office this year. Middle School Vice President. The run was unsuccessful but he immediately recovered and won a leadership position at boy scouts. Those signs, and campaign, might need to focus on the twin angle.