West: Election barn-burner

By MIKE WEST

Talk about going down to the wire, Tuesday's election was a late night barn burner on both the local and national level.
Who says an individual vote doesn't count? If nothing else, the close margins in the Woodbury Board of Mayor and Aldermen race stand as strong evidence that you should get out and vote. And the Presidential race? Wow!!

***

When it comes to the Woodbury election, a handfull of votes made all the difference.
Mayor-elect Andy Duggin won by nine votes over long-time Woodbury official Charlie Harrell. It's interesting to note there were 10 write-in votes in that race.
When it comes to the Alderman races, voting was also close with all of the incumbents winning re-election and current Mayor Harold Patrick winning a seat on the board.

***
In state and national contests, Cannon County voted all Republican. The strongest vote came at the Woodland Prescinct with Trump/Pence winning 80.49 percent of the vote compared to Clinton/Kaine's 15.47 percent.
Congressman Diane Black received 74.53 percent of the vote.
State Rep. Mark Pody won 82.66 percent compared to Amelia Hipps' 17.12 percent.
Clinton's best Cannon County total came at Gassaway where she received 67 votes or 30.73 percent compared to Trump's 66.06 percent of the total.

***

Trump was a resounding winner in Tennessee as well as the rest of the Southeastern United States.
It will be extremely interested to see what the first 100 days of Trump's term will bring. On his first day in office, President-elect Trump has vowed to to erase the effects of Barack Obama's presidency.
During his eye-opening speech at Gettysburg, Trump promised to cancel every "executive action, memorandum and order issued by President Obama" and to reinstate a government "of, by and for the people."
His promise to do away with "Obamacare," the so-called Affordabe Care Act, proved particularly popular with voters. Countless Americans found themselves forced to join "Obamacare," for which they received extremely expensive health insurance that in many cases paid little or nothing in the form of benefits.

***

Trump has also vowed to address immigration problems, which would have probably grown under a Clinton administration.
Another popular proposal was Trump's promise to "drain the swamp" of big money Washington politics by acting to "reduce the corrupting influence of special interests."
To achieve that vow, Trump is calling for constitutional amendment to impose term limits on all members of Congress and a five-year ban on White House and Congressional officials to keep them from becoming lobbyists after they leave government service.
Trump is also calling for a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce its workforce through attrition.
When it comes to trade, Trump plans to break from the traditional Republican policy of free trade and will impose a set of policies designed to close America's economic borders. He intends to "renegotiate" NAFTA, the policy that resulted in so many jobs going south of the border.
Wow! It's going to be a busy 100 days for President Trump.
It's also going to be interesting to see what is able to achieve on Capital Hill with a Republican controlled House and Senate.
Hold onto your hats!