Did Stars Hollow want to make America great again? It's the question Vulture posed to Gilmore Girls' creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband (who's the show's co-executive producer) Daniel Palladino. The two, who admitted to being "dyed in the wool liberals," were divided on whether the town in Gilmore Girls would have voted for Donald Trump. Daniel said Stars Hollow "probably voted for Trump," but ASP was quick to disagree with a "No. No, no, no, no." Daniel pointed out that the Connecticut town was "rural America," but Sherman-Palladino just couldn't imagine her sweet town going that route. "There is no evilness in Stars Hollow," she said. "Do not put that out there, I do not accept that. Absolutely not." Finally, Daniel gave in and said maybe, perhaps, Stars Hollow is a "clean, liberal" town. But to truly decide whether Stars Hollow would have gone red on Election Day, we just have to look at the show itself.
Over the course of seven seasons and one revival, fans have gotten a chance to get to know the town of Stars Hollow and how they think. Those town meetings can be pretty enlightening, as far as learning the temperature of the town. With a closer look at the town's political happenings and what we know about this election, it's time to decide whether Stars Hollow would have really voted for Trump in the end.
Taylor Doose Has Absolute Power
Sometimes it seems that Taylor is the only one in charge of anything. He was the town selectman for the entire show (even the revival, which is nearly a decade later). He runs what seems to be the only grocery store in town, along with an old-fashioned soda shop. He owns several buildings and is working to buy even more, so he can basically take over the whole town. He's the one who runs all the town meetings, setting the agenda for what needs to be done. He's the most powerful man in Stars Hollow. That may not seem like much, but his ego is hard to contend with. He thinks all of his own personal issues and ideas (oy, with that sewer system already) are also the most important for the town. He's the gatekeeper to getting anything done. Just ask Lorelai about Sores and Boils Alley — what a pain that can be. As Hank in Woodbury knows, Taylor is not one to get over a grudge and he's not quick to admit his defeat.
Verdict? These facts lean toward Trump the businessman. They seem to like that dynamic in their town, so why not the United States, too?
They Like An Outsider
After Taylor tells Jackson he doesn't have the proper permits for his greenhouse, the town's resident farmer decides he's going to run for town selectman. It was the first time we saw Taylor challenged (and this was not until Season 4), and in the end, it was also the first time we saw him really lose. Big league. It seemed the town was happy to have someone new on the ballot, an outsider one may say. And I couldn't have been happier to see Sookie in a pantsuit that rivaled Hillary Clinton's. In the end, Jackson ended up giving back the job because it was more than he wanted to handle. Turns out, there's a whole lot of complaints to be had in the magical town of Stars Hollow. But, what we did learn is that the town is willing to vote for a non-establishment candidate.
Verdict? Trump was the "outsider" of this election, having no previous political experience, so we have to give the edge to him here.
Just Look At The Town
If there's one thing you can say about Stars Hollow, it's that it's never been a very diverse town. In a rather cringeworthy moment, Taylor even admitted in the revival that they didn't have enough gays for a gay pride parade. The majority of the population is white, which if we look at the breakdown of the electorate that voted for Trump, they also happened to be overwhelmingly white. According to the New York Times' exit polls, Trump received 58 percent of the white vote. During the revival Taylor also talks about the aging town and how he's looking to draw in some younger people. Well, it was the older population that voted for Trump. He received 53 percent of both the 45-64 age vote and those 65 and over.
Now, we can't say every white person would have voted for Trump. The actual state of Connecticut was blue in this election with 54.6 percent voting for Clinton. But the fact that this is a rural town does give some insight to how it likely would have voted. In the exit polls, it was found that 62 percent of those living in small towns or rural areas cast a vote for Trump.
Verdict? Trump definitely has a leg up in this town.
Of course, this isn't a poll. Though, I would assume Kirk would be in charge of one of those and I'd still question the results. But, if we're looking objectively at the town the Palladinos created, we have to say it seems like it would have been Trump nation. Lorelai and Rory were outliers, but the town looks like it may have gone red. Not to mention, Stars Hollowians are suckers for a good slogan that has a hat to match. Put it on a shirt and Kirk could have made a pretty penny.
