Illustration by Daniel Johnson, Story by Hilary Broman
Staff Reporter
The CNM Chronicle asked CNM students to voice their opinions about the recent election that resulted in Donald Trump being named the 45th president of the United States.
Kase Conklin, a psychology major, was rooting for Gary Johnson to win the election but is hopeful that Trump will be a positive change, he said.
“Maybe we need a business man instead of a politician,” Conklin said.
Conklin also expressed concerns about Trump’s presidency.
“As a transgender man I hope that I am able to follow through with my transition with minimal difficulty,” he said, “I also hope that those of the LGBTQ community and those of different nationalities and beliefs can live without fear.”
Cody Johnson, a business and psychology major, was truly disappointed by the results, he said.
“I wanted Hillary to win. Yes, I realize she has her flaws, but what’s important to me above all else is experience,” he said.
Johnson is not optimistic about what Trump will do for college students, he said.
“If education is as real and important to him as was Trump University, then I can only see this being a negative impact on college students,” he said.
Donald Trump was not the right choice for a lot of people, Johnson said.
People do not trust him to run the country and they do not trust him with political affairs of any kind, he said.
He better be able to prove us wrong, Johnson said.
Nick Axen, communications major, was not in favor of either candidate, but he feels ok with the Trump win, he said.
“I am generally more conservative in my overall political views,” he said.
CNM students Tobias Sedillo, Ryan Valdez, and Dominick Louis Cobeo all voted for the third-party candidate, Gary Johnson.
Cobeo voted for Johnson because he did not like either of the majority candidates, he said.
“I was shocked by the results,” he said, “I thought Hillary would win.”
Although Valdez voted for Johnson he wanted Bernie Sanders to win, he said.
“Socialism is the only hope for the planet,” he said.
The Democrat’s minimum wage increases and the Republican’s return of manufacturing are yesterday’s solutions to yesterday’s problems and automation of labor is the greatest economic crisis of this generation, and neither political party is talking about it, he said.
Valdez said that he figured it was better to vote for the left to lose the election rather than voting left to lose its soul by supporting false progressives like Clinton.
“Now it’s time to clean house,” he said.
Sedillo said that he was not happy that Trump won but that he was okay with the outcome.
“Being a disabled vet, I hope Trump makes good on his word to take better care of the Veterans in need,” he said.
Sedillo was surprised by the results but he said that if Clinton would have won he still would have been shocked.
Beth Mestas, a modern language major, was not enthusiastic about either candidate but there was one candidate that she did not want to win so her vote was against that candidate, she said.
“I voted for the lesser of two evils,” she said.
Mestas is eager to see how Trump leads such a divided nation, she said.
“I wish him the best and will do what I can as a citizen to support and respect him,” she said.
Mestas said that she is nervous about the outcome, not because of who was elected but because of the distraught citizens who are terrorizing cities.
In response to the citizens who are expressing hurt, anger, and frustration and who are saying that their rights, liberties, and personal success are in jeopardy, Mestas quotes Barbra Bush: “Your success as a family… our success as a nation… depends not on what happens inside the White House, but on what happens inside your house.”
“If CNM Students can remember this, they will achieve greatness regardless of who is in office,” Mestas said.
Although many CNM students expressed their opinions with the CNM Chronicle, many of them decided not to vote in this election.
Mareya Gutierrez, a liberal art major, said that she did not vote because she tries to avoid politics.
She said that she woke up the morning after the election feeling strange, melancholy and scared by the election results.
“I think it’s a huge lesson telling me that it’s important to educate myself on everything whether I agree with it or not,” she said.
Cody Johnson, although fully supportive of Clinton, did not vote in the 2016 election, he said.
“I feel as though my vote doesn’t count,” he said.
According to Associated Press, New Mexico was one of the states that lit up blue on election night, winning Hilary Clinton 5 electoral votes and allowing her to defeat Donald Trump by over 8% of the vote.
Almost 10% of New Mexico voters voted for Gary Johnson.
Overall, Donald Trump won 290 electoral votes in the country making him the 45th president of the United States.
