Against all odds

White educated female Democrat votes red for the first time

By Emma Palova

EW Emma’s Writings

Grand Rapids, MI- Reeling off from the historic “unprecedented & unpredictable” Election 2016 with President-Elect Donald Trump soon to take residency at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, I admit that I am glad it’s over.

Wearing a red sweater for the occasion, I cast my ballot on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 11 a.m. at precinct no.1 at the Vergennes Township Hall on Bailey Road. I couldn’t find a parking space. After voting I took a selfie with a selfie stick in front of the township hall. It was windy and cloudy. I was shivering, and not just from the wind.

I didn’t expect Trump to win anyways much like the media, the polls and the political pundits.

“You’re an idiot,” my mother Ella yelled at me on Wednesday, “just like the rest of the people who voted for him. The whole world thinks that. The stocks have gone down.”

Okay, thank you mom.

Coming from generations of Liberals, I was supposed to vote for Secretary Hillary Clinton.

After all I am a white educated female Democrat who started her blogging/design business Emma Blogs, LLC on the WordPress platform in 2013.

But, my business and entrepreneurial spirit have nothing to do with my vote for the 45^th president of the USA.

I consider myself a people’s woman and I have always voted Democratic until now. I would have voted for Bernie Sanders, if he had stayed in the race.

But, not for Hillary.

As a victim of politics of the Prague Spring 1968 in former Czechoslovakia when the Soviet tanks invaded the country, I do not put up easily with lies, tactics and establishment.

And I write about my encounters with politics throughout my life in the memoir “Greenwich Meridian.” (c)

Thus, I am more keen and sensitive when someone is lying to me and to other billions of people around the world. Hillary’s private server, erased e-mails, Wall Street speeches and funding of her presidential campaign from the Clinton Foundation, didn’t resonate well with me.

It takes a lot more than a polished lying lawyer sporting a blue or white suit and a great blonde haircut, to convince me.

Lies were the biggest issue that the voters had with Hillary and they expressed it in the following keywords:

Liar/Not trustworthy.

“I made a mistake,” she said on the theme of the proverbial private server and the erased e-mails.

I should have been more graceful and forgiving, we all make mistakes.

But, I wasn’t. Considering Hillary’s political history and my political history, there was not enough grace left in me.

On the other hand, I should have been offended by Trump’s misogyny and his rough language at the debates and rallies around the country, his bullying and overall disregard for some human values.

His language did offend me, but there was a grain of forgiveness in me.

I separated the former bully from the agent of change. That apparently struck accord with the majority of voters; that is Trump’s promise of change.

I watched him defy the establishment of both parties, while mocking the media all along. Hillary would have only been an extension of President Obama’s policies. And I voted for Obama twice.

President-Elect Trump didn’t bypass the importance of the rural and blue-collar votes in the Midwest. I love rural America. It’s been my home for 20 years. Michigan became one of the battleground states in the pivotal hours of the election.

On election eve, Trump made his last stop at DeVos Hall in Grand Rapids at 11 p.m. with 10,000 people present.

“This is our Independence Day,” he said to the crowd.

On Wednesday Nov. 9 at 2:45 a.m., I watched his victory speech starting out with tears in his eyes.

“This was tough,” he said about the campaign. “It’s complicated business.”

Spreading his arms wide to the audience and looking directly into the camera, Trump said.

“I love you.”

Let independence from old establishments, institutions and biased media ring around the world.

Good luck and God Bless Mr. President-Elect. Protect the freedoms and independence in this great country.