On Nov. 8, 2016, a handful of journalists gathered in the Greenfield Recorder’s Hope Street newsroom to document the findings of the presidential election. An air of anticipation pervaded the newsroom’s dusty shelves and cluttered desks. Reporters typed at computers; editors strategized in a corner office.
The sacred duty of election coverage is one that newspaper journalists pride themselves in. And compared to the sometimes monotonous grind of recording the happenings of a public meeting, for example, covering an election is exciting. As per local tradition, a pizza was ordered from Village Pizza on Bank Row, a short walk away.
All hands were brought on deck.
From Heath to Conway, Athol to Montague, journalists covered the region throughout the day, taking exit polls and interviewing local officials. Then at night, everyone gathered around a small television screen at the back of the newsroom to watch the results — even some who weren’t scheduled to work.
Former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, squared off against political newcomer Donald Trump, a Republican. Early polling predicted a Clinton win; much of the nation expected that to be the case.
Of course, the results didn’t go as many people expected — Trump won the presidency, not Clinton.
For Clinton supporters, it felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. Those who backed Trump celebrated with surprise.
These four years later, much has changed. The nation’s political climate is more divisive than ever. For better or for worse, it’s an entirely different America that will be taking to the polls today to decide who leads the country through 2024: Either the incumbent Trump or challenger Joe Biden, a Democrat who previously served as vice president alongside President Barack Obama.
Tonight, as in 2016, reporters will stay late into the night fielding phone calls from town clerks. Pizza will be ordered and results will be tallied — a tradition that journalists here at the Recorder take seriously.
This year, it feels more important than ever.
For Republicans, Trump has been hailed as a political outsider unafraid to say what needs to be said. For Democrats, he represents a step in the wrong direction.
One way or another, Tuesday’s results will mark a historic turn in American politics. Democracy forms the bedrock of American life and, given the challenges facing the next administration, this could prove to be one of the most important elections in the nation’s history.
We asked readers for their memories of the 2016 election. Here is what we received:
My father was a political reporter and columnist, so election night was always exciting and interesting growing up. If he wasn’t home when we awoke the next morning, it meant a close race the night before with results not decided late into the night. The 1988 election, three years after his death, was bittersweet because the Democratic candidate, Michael Dukakis, knew my father (even wrote a letter of condolence to the Recorder). I met Dukakis as a kid way back in 1967 at a political event at Salisbury Beach.
The 2000 election was also one for the record books and I was sorry my Dad wasn’t around to comment on it.
I was one of those naive fools in 2016 who believed that the values I learned growing up, from my military career and my faith life, meant something even in politics — that character, integrity, truth, conduct, behavior, professionalism and leadership would prevent a reality television host and longtime con man from entering the Oval Office. My daughter, in her first year studying political science at college (and already signed up for a trip to Washington, D.C. and the inauguration), was frantically texting me throughout the night as she worked several polling places near her campus, warning me that a disaster was unfolding.
Me, the son of a political reporter, took politics seriously and refused to believe that our country would fall for the prank. And so I sat transfixed and dumbfounded as I watched the results come in and it became obvious that the unimaginable was taking place. My daughter called, in tears — her dreams and visions of a new America shattered, alone and miserable in her far-off dorm room.
I had to wake my wife, who had conked out on the couch and tell her the tragic news. It was easier reporting a death in the family — although that’s how it felt when I told her that our country had taken a giant step backward into the abyss.
And now it is four years later and I never did recover from 2016, realizing that all that I believed in and held true was meaningless. Good is bad. Lies are truth. Character is subjective. And the rotten stench of corrupt self-serving politics has infected all aspects of our cultural and daily lives.
Polls tell us that 2020 will be different, but those of us who were burned by the practical joke of 2016 remain tentative and unsure because nothing seems real or certain anymore. But I have no choice but to believe that good will beat evil, that truth matters and that those virtues that were instilled in me by my parents, my military mentors and my faith teachers still matter. I just have to pray that enough of my fellow Americans agree with me.
I was watching the election coverage — watching Trump’s numbers soar — and thinking, “Awesome.”
I watched and thought, “Yes, finally a president that is not a politician! Excited for four more years of good things from President Trump.”
I remember his shocked look coming on stage when he was declared the winner. Like, “Now what?”
One of the best days in American history. Politicians are a dime a dozen but leaders lead.
It was awesome … Hillary was ahead in the polls by 13 to 14 percent and Trump pulled it off. I know it won’t happen again, that is OK. We have the Supreme Court. I’ll take that over the Oval Office any day.
Like many, I began watching the election coverage with the belief that Hillary Clinton would win after a few hours.
But as the results rolled in, there was a sinking feeling that continued to grow. I was also watching my Facebook feed as more and more of my friends were becoming alarmed. I contributed my share with one memory of saying that I feared for the future of my country. After Florida went for Trump, I turned off the set and went to bed, disheartened.
I turned on the radio at 7 a.m. the next morning to get the result and just lay there, stunned.
I spent the day after the election consoling people, especially my gay and women friends who felt that America was no longer safe for them. One exchange with a young gay woman I’ve known since her birth made me cry — she was so distraught.
During the afternoon, I took a break and went outside. I saw this cloud that resembled an angel and felt that maybe there was hope for the future after all.