Getting out the vote
By Avantika Chilkoti
As the election results rolled in on Tuesday evening an air of shock and mourning fell over the Kennedy School forum. Few here admit to supporting Donald Trump. And many signed up to study public policy confident they would join a Democrat-led administration a year or two along the line.
In the run up to the vote, hordes of students drove up to the swing state of New Hampshire to campaign for Hillary Clinton. This weekend, I joined them.
The email that landed in my inbox called this phase of the campaign ‘get out the vote’. Around 9am on a cold Saturday morning we pulled up to a house in a rural part of New Hampshire. A family had opened their garage up to canvassers. We were rounded up into groups, armed with maps and cookies, and sent on our way to knock some doors.
Stepping onto my first doorstep it was clear the Democrats’ confidence about this election were misplaced. ‘Good morning, I am here with the New Hampshire Democrats and just wanted to check we can count on you to go and vote on Tuesday,’ I said, grinning and hoping that by following the script closely I made up for my accent.
‘I’ll be going out to vote — but not for that crook,’ came the reply. I scanned my script. We weren’t prepared for this.
What came was a tirade on the FBI investigation into Clinton’s emails and a political elite that had ignored the demands of the masses.
Even in this well-off corner of New Hampshire it was clear the traditional Democrat voters were turning against their party. Some of Trump’s comments about women and immigrants were worrying, this voter admitted. But he didn’t know who he would vote for in three days’ time.
A few doors down we met a middle-aged entrepreneur. We could count on him to vote for Clinton but he was rooting for Republicans down ballot. Political gridlock would prevent the government from getting in the way of business, you see.
Three days later, back in the forum, the US was destined neither for a President Clinton nor for gridlock. But stepping out of our bubble, even for one short morning, provided a real picture of the America beyond.
