According to exit polls 61% who voted said that Trump was unqualified yet they voted for him. The KKK and other hate groups endorsed him for President yet they voted for him. He promised to ban an entire group from entering the country based on their religious beliefs yet they voted for him. They chanted USA during his acceptance speech and anyone who knows this country knows what the underlying meaning to that chant in that venue at that moment was meant to say.

America has spoken it has spoken loud and clear. We had 8 straight years of economic growth after an economic collapse at the end of Bush’s presidency. We had 8 years of progressive social growth from the affordable care act to gay marriage but it was accomplished under a man with a progressive agenda, it was achieved under a man of color so it was not deemed an achievement it was in fact deemed a failure an attack on true American values.

Then last night we sat in disbelief. How could this be happening? The polls all had it the other way. Then it dawned on us we were watching the Bradley effect at play. The Bradley effect is a theory concerning observed discrepancies between voter opinion polls and election outcomes in some United States government elections where a white candidate and a non-white candidate run against each other. The theory proposes that some voters who intend to vote for the white candidate would nonetheless tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for the non-white candidate. It was named after Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California governor’s race despite being ahead in voter polls going into the elections. Hilary was not a non white candidate but she wasn’t promising to “make America great again” with rhetoric that shouted and by America great I mean let’s take “our” country back.

But nevertheless the country has spoken and Donald Trump is the President elect we must now move forward in a positive fashion and do everything we can, within the boundaries of the political process, to hold on to the progressive gains that we have made through the years and minimize the damage that is sure to come. We must double down on voter registration, we must mobilize in the communities with an eye toward the mid term elections, we must hold our Senators and congresspersons accountable to the highest levels. We may be disappointed by the outcome but we must abide by the voice of the people, peacefully transfer power to President Elect Trump and prepare for the next political battle.