When asked whether Trump’s 50 percent win in last week’s mock election was surprising, students responded with a resounding, “Eh, not really.”
Freshman softball player Brianna Snyder summed up the general consensus well, reasoning that, “Because of the area and because it’s a Christian school,” a mostly-Republican turnout is, for better or for worse, bound to happen.
“And, I mean, I like Trump, so I’d say ‘yes,’ that’s a good thing,” adds Snyder, laughing.
Freshman Kathryn Hood agreed with Snyder’s reasoning, adding that, since Trump and Clinton are “more well-known” candidates, they are also more likely to gain votes. Students basically consider Trump’s high polling rate typical of the region. .
Instead, what does surprise students is the amount of votes the rest of the candidates received.
Freshman Goah Scholar Rachel Oliver even remarked that Clinton got “a lot” of votes–and her proportion of supporters trailed Trump’s by 21 percent. Snyder, too, said that she was surprised third-party candidates, each receiving less than 20 percent of the vote, had “so many” votes.
Freshman basketball player Nathan Hastings proposed that this, too, is a result of the heavily-Christian environment of East Tennessee. He suggests that Trump’s explosive personality and Clinton’s long list of scandals violate some people’s “Christian standards,” preventing even the most loyal of Democrats or Republicans from voting for their party this time around.
Some students were surprised Trump recieved a decent chunk of the votes, however, fivethirtyeight.com predicts Clinton will end up in the White House. Based on both recent polls and past elections, the election forecasting website currently calculates that Clinton has an 78 percent chance of winning the presidency, as of Oct. 31.