It’s officially over. Yesterday’s historically monumental—and completely nerve wracking—election marks the most divisive election to date. Anyone who remembers going to sleep during the Bush / Gore election of 2000 also remembers waking up under a completely different regime than originally thought— which is completely reminiscent of last night’s events. Now that the election is over and, like it or lump it, Donald Trump is our new Commander in Chief, the question we now must ask one another is what we can do to transform the entire election process from one of negativity and difficulty to one of empathy and ease for the citizens of America?
Joining ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ for this election recap were Matt Mahan, CEO of voter-empowerment app Brigade, and Erin Schrode, the youngest candidate ever to run for US Congress.
“My head is still spinning. It was a surprising outcome. But on Brigade we saw incredible enthusiasm for Trump so I’m a little less shocked.”
“Hillary had lower turnout than Obama despite a larger electorate.”
“It’s fascinating that Trump won Wisconsin and Michigan. It reflects the voices outside of mainstream America.”
“We built a platform to help voters understand their democracy. We start from people’s beliefs and choices and ask them to express themselves.”
“Over the last few months we’ve had hundreds of thousands of voters filling out their virtual ballots.”
“In San Francisco we had 60 things on the ballot.”
“On Brigade we noticed disproportionally high support for Trump. A smaller group but more engaged than Bernie Sanders’ camp.”
“Hillary supporters just didn’t turn out the way Trump supporters did.”
“Trump speaks to the white vote, especially in the Rust Belt, who feel they haven’t been heard before.”
“We need to hold this new administration accountable for what happens now.”
“At the end of the Primary season we noticed a pretty big gap in polls. Trump had the highest share rate and enthusiasm.”
“The social bubble is a real thing. There was a lot of real misinformation swimming around.”
“We’ll see action on immigration. We may see a positive reform on the tax code.”
“This race revolved so much on personality that I have no idea what Trump’s policies are.”
“We have a feature called Debates which allows people to publish an opinion and let’s people agree or disagree. It’s a counter trend on other election platforms.”
“We have a community team that steps in and talks to people. We believe in free speech, but there’s a line that a user can cross that will get someone kicked off.”
“One of the things that’s been a failing in our media is a lack of empathy.”
“I think we have to ask ourselves if we’re educating citizens for freedom.”
“Our education system is falling short of 21st Century democracy.”
“There’s only so much we can do to regulate media.”
“We’re able to move billions and trillions of dollars around online. But with voting and recent episodes of hacking the process of voting online is setback.”
“Seeing the level of interest and engagement of the voters was incredibly inspiring.”
“You have a reason to stay involved.”
ERIN SCHRODE“I’m struggling to be out of bed right now. The doorman hugged me, the cabbie offered to move me to Haiti.”
“No one thought the trolls were real. We live in a bubble and it’s been popped.”
“Trump was able to reach so many people, the rhetoric of hate is so much easier to rally around than love.”
“At the same time people were afraid to speak about if we really wanted to vote for Trump. It wasn’t socially acceptable.”
“The Clean Air Act, Affordable Health Care Act —bye bye. All of the executive orders Obama worked so hard to get through will go away.”
“There is no counter voice, Trump’s voice is the voice of the land.”
“We have to recognize that this is a fair election and Donald Trump is the President Elect of America.”
“The lack of specifics of what Trump will do. Some of it he’s kept a secret, we don’t know the people involved. His erratic nature is what make me scared.”
“It’s in what Donald Trump has said he’ll do in the first 100 days that frightens me.”
“Children are altering their behaviors because of this scary rhetoric.”
“I think Trump spoke from an unfiltered standpoint. Which spoke for many Americans and what they were thinking.”
“I don’t want to liken my campaign to Donald Trump’s, but I was unfiltered. They could see what made me tick.”
“Hillary focused too much on Trump’s words instead of what she could bring and hope for the country. Only in the last couple of weeks did it shift.”
“There’s too much content out there. We pick influencers that we trust but they’re aligned with our points of views. It’s hard to find an unbiased media source.”
“Discern the facts for yourself. My Twitter I’m very conscious to have people with whom I disagree.”
“I was asked by students what I wanted to see shift, what tech companies could do. I said figure out a way to vote online. That’s my challenge.”
“It’s been an incredible journey. We can make our voice heard through social media, traditional media, with our pen.”
“Stay involved. We need you as much today as we will in 100 days from you. That’s the American Democracy experience.”
Join ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ every Wednesday only on SiriusXM Business Channel 111 at 12pm ET/9am PT.
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