On Nov.7, four Bucs’ Blade staff members attended both the Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton rally in Allendale and Grand Rapids. After 12 hours, 22 Snapchats, 10 Tweets, four Instagram posts and 60 miles round trip these devoted journalists have gathered their final thoughts on this crazy, mixed-up election.

Sarah Jane Chrysler, Co-Editor in Chief:

Wow. This election has left me speechless. Although these two rallies were not the first ones I had attended over the course of the last year, I found the experiences to be completely new. It was my first time to see Clinton speak and her rally went about as smooth as expected. She brought her A-game and held the audience. She talked about policy and insulted her opponent. What I was not expecting was to feel the hope in the room. It seemed like everyone there was ready to get out and vote for the change she could bring. The atmosphere was completely different at the Trump rally. After close to a half an hour of Ted Nugent’s thoughts on corruption, Clinton and hunting season, the crowd was riled up and felt hostile. By the time Trump was speaking the audience was fully captivated by him. Though he touched on a few policies the focus was often pointed at insulting his opponent. Both had an impact on their audiences, the delivery was the biggest difference.
Overall the experience was once in a lifetime and I’m happy that I had the opportunity to attend both rallies. I don’t think that anyone is particularly thrilled with our two major party candidates but the conclusion that I came to is that in spite of this, we have to voice our opinions. It is our right as citizens to vote and it should not be wasted.

Ben Ingall, Reporter

On Nov. 7, both Presidential candidates visited West Michigan. The night started off with Hillary Clinton at Grand Valley State University. Clinton talked about many of her policies including actions to promote gay and women’s rights, and it seemed as though she was trying to make an effort to have more appeal to the Bernie Sanders supporters that are among the Democratic party. I personally enjoyed listening to Clinton talk and thought she had some pretty good insights to give, though I still would not say that “I’m with Her.”
The Donald Trump rally was a late one that evening, beginning at 11:00 p.m. at Devos Place in Grand Rapids. The night began at 10:30 p.m. however, as guest speakers such as congressman Bill Huizenga and Peter Secchia came on stage to support Trump, as well as the famous rock star Ted Nugent. Nugent gave about an hour long speech talking his experience hunting and how he wanted Michigan to become a “red state.” Mike Pence later joined the stage and after his speech, made way for the main act: Trump. This rally was much more entertaining as there were very interesting people there to watch as well as getting a free concert from Ted Nugent. Though I would say that I did not agree with anything Donald Trump had to say.

Sawyer Hamm, Reporter:

As a very traditional conservative, I have not found much solace in this election. Though I do not support either candidate, I was excited by the opportunity to attend the Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton rallies. I hoped that I would be at the very least reassured that the candidates were more sane than I imagined.
Sadly, I was mistaken.
First was the Clinton rally. As someone who is traditionally conservative, I have been unsupportive of Clinton’s campaign. First and foremost, I disagree with many of her policies, but mainly, I am skeptical of her as a person. Many of her plans, including free college, strengthening the Affordable Care Act and keeping more open borders, sounded more like pandering to her audiences than thought out policies or her legitimate beliefs. This makes me feel like she is running a campaign for her own benefit rather than for the people. I was only reassured that she could be a professional politician. Compared to Trump, she seemed to be much more tranquil and level headed. However, I still felt like she was playing us.
I left the Clinton rally praying that Trump would convince me that he was a better candidate than her; however, the minute I set foot on the premises of his rally, I only felt afraid. The aura of his event was electric, but in all the wrong ways. Being at the Trump rally felt like I was part of a cult. As afraid as I was of the people at the Clinton rally (they did not take well to any mentions of “the other party”), I felt ten times more afraid at Trump’s. The event organizer who checked me in behaved unbelievably unprofessional, even cursing to me. She also told me to “Go H.A.M.” taking pictures. Overall the people more closely behaved like college football fans with their chanting and booing than political activists. The climax of my fear came a few minutes after Trump took stage. He pointed to the press box and proclaimed,
“These people, the world’s most dishonest people, the media, are not happy.”
The crowd then turned and booed and started moving toward the press box. I have honestly never been so afraid in my life. The most frightening part was that the mob mentality was being incited by the Trump staff. The group of people in the bleachers behind him led most of the chants, and several times Trump himself made antagonistic remarks. I left the Clinton rally thinking that there was no way she should become our next president. A few hours later, leaving the Trump rally, I thought to myself, I hope she wins.
Overall, I found that the only thing I agreed with from each candidate is their opinions of each other. I believe Clinton to be a dishonest, self-focused woman, and Trump to be certifiably insane. I hoped to feel less afraid for our future, however now I feel more so than ever.

Jack Reus, Reporter

The rallies I attended last night were very different in many ways. First of all, the Hillary Clinton rally was very exciting. She had multiple guest speakers and the crowd was very into it. I thought Clinton emphasized the importance of equality and acceptance of everyone in the United States. Her rally was very moving and very positive. Before the rally, I had been very skeptical of both campaigns. After attending the Hillary rally, I found that I love the way she accepts everyone regardless of religion, race, their salary, political views,etc.. I felt very comfortable at this rally and everyone I talked to was very kind and passionate about the Democratic Party. Hillary came out strong and talked with authority but at the same time she was very comfortable with her audience and showed she truly cared about bringing change to America and that she cared about improving the lives of everyone in the United States.
The Donald Trump rally was a major shift in mood. As we walked through the doors of The Devos Place, I noticed the place was full of passionate people for their Republican Candidate. The venue was loaded with caps, pins, t-shirts, signs,etc that read the slogan of Donald Trump, “Make America Great Again!” I thought the amount of passion these supporters had for Trump was really powerful and unique. However, I felt some of the event organizers were extremely unprofessional. One of the campaign workers did not even filter her vocabulary. I found this was the case with many of Donald Trump’s supporters as they were very hostile and chanted many things that make you stop and think such as “Lock her up!” or “Drain the Swamp!” This even carried into the bathroom where a Trump supporter jokingly said, “You better enjoy this piss, because if Hillary is president we’re gonna have to pay to piss.” The difference between supporters at the Hillary rally and the Trump rally was extremely recognizable. Trump did mention his policies but for the most part, the rally was based on bashing his opponent, Hillary Clinton. Overall, it was a very moving experience and I am very glad to have had the opportunity to attend both rallies.