After the presidential election on Tuesday evening, students and teachers at Palo Alto High School share their mixed reactions towards the outcome of the race for our country’s 47th president. The Paly Voice asked them how they felt about the general election and how the results could influence them.
|
— Kathleen Wang, 11th grade
|
“I really thought she [Harris] could take a couple of swing states. I was really looking at those, and I wasn’t surprised about Ohio, but I was surprised about Pennsylvania. … The other thing is, unfortunately, all this does is reinforce the division of the country. We haven’t learned to disagree in a proper way, as opposed to vilifying the other side.” — Katya Villalobos, history teacher |
|
— Max Reiter, 11th grade |
“It’s the third pretty close one [election] that I’ve lived through now because the first one was Bush and Gore. Anyways, I was surprised, and then I was like, ‘Why am I surprised about this?’ … And then I watched another show and then I was done.” — Jeffrey Willner, band and orchestra director
|
“I would say that I’m really disappointed in America after seeing the results of this election because it has shown that the people of America are willing to let a felon, a rapist … become a president of the United States. He has demonstrated absolutely no respect for the foundation of America as a democracy, he demonstrates zero respect for women, and by electing this kind of person to be the representative of our country, it shows how our country is moving backwards.” 
“I’m upset with the outcome, as I assume most people are. I am, however, not of the belief that it was unexpected. It was fully expected, as the Democratic Party has seemed to be pushing away their base in the sense of going towards more moderate Republicans.”