With less than a month left before Americans from coast to coast head to the polls, it’s becoming more evident that the last few days of the 2016 presidential election are going to be very ugly.

Yet, once Election Day comes and goes, our nation will have a newly elected president.

Will it be Donald Trump, American businessman and Republican nominee, or will it be Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state and Democratic nominee? Maybe it will be a third-party candidate, like Gary Johnson, a former Republican governor of New Mexico and current nominee of the Libertarian party.

Whomever the next president may be,  some Americans will be pleased by the results, while others will be rather upset. While our country seems to be more divided on this race than elections in the past, there are still ways that these candidates can win.

A Second Clinton Presidency

Could this be the year that Hillary Clinton is elected President of the United States? It might possibly be.

In 2000, Clinton was elected to the United States Senate, representing New York. This is when her path to the presidency began. From the day she was sworn in as a senator, Clinton has made many attempts to place herself into position for a White House run.

She began her first official campaign for the presidency in 2007. She fought a hard fight against the then – Senator Barack Obama. She kept her campaign running until June 2008 when she ended her run and endorsed Obama. From that point, Clinton had her eyes set on another presidential run.

Clinton knew there was no way she could run against a sitting president for the nomination in 2012 and win, so she had to hold off until 2016.

Clinton resigned from the Senate and accepted a position as Obama’s Secretary of State. During that time, Clinton dealt with a series of trials and tribulations.

One of these trials and tribulations that Clinton dealt with was the attack on the American embassy in Benghazi. That didn’t go over so well for her as four Americans were killed in the attack, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. Another one of the trial and tribulations Clinton faced was the discovery of a private server she used for her emails during her time as Secretary of State. This has and will continue to haunt her for the rest of the presidential race and probably for the rest of her life.

Getting past those, Clinton is now at a time in the race where she is in a place to win over the presidency. From many different polls, it looks like if the election were held right now, Hillary Clinton would have anywhere from 187 to 268 electoral votes. Donald Trump would have 163 to 204. That leaves  91 electoral votes unaccounted for from  Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Right now, it is looking like Clinton will have around 243 electoral votes. If that is the case on election night, then Clinton is going to have to win a few of the states that are unaccounted for. In this case, she could win Arizona and Florida and have a majority of electoral votes. It is very easy for her to win the presidency, but will she hold her lead up to Election Day?

Trump Can Still Win

Many believe the presidency is far from Trump’s reach. That is simply just not true. The presidency is very much within reach for Trump.

First, Trump has proved he is not the average presidential candidate on multiple occasions. His reactions on the campaign trail and in the debates show he is different from other candidates in the past. He interrupts a lot during the debates and throws out protesters during his rallies. This shows his supporters that he is not afraid to make his opinion known and he won’t allow people to walk over him.

Second, a lot of Americans feel they have not been represented properly by the Obama administration. Some Americans are feeling negative effects of policies, like the Affordable Care Act, the current president has signed into law.

Third, only three times since 1900 has a party won the presidency after a two-term president of the same party. This trend leans in Trump’s favor.

Lastly, a lot of Trump supporters are first-time voters. They believe Trump is a candidate who is just like them and relates to him. These supporters honestly don’t care about allegations that arise against Trump. They already believe everything from the media to polling to the debates are rigged, and the DNC leaks that suggested that the primaries were rigged against Bernie Sanders really proved their point.

When it comes to the Electoral College, Trump holds a solid 163 votes with 42 more that are likely to become states he will win. This takes his total up to 205. In order for Trump to win, he has to win Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and either Arizona, Colorado or Nevada. If he loses in Florida, North Carolina or Pennsylvania he will not win the presidency.

Now if Trump supporters are first-time voters, what’s the likelihood of them answering the polling phone calls or the internet polls? Do you really think a group of people who already believe the system is rigged are going to respond to these? If that’s the case, then how accurate are all of these polls going around saying that Clinton is leading?

This race may be closer than what many people already think.

A Third-Party President

Let’s face it. Gary Johnson is not going to win this year.

He hasn’t qualified to appear in any of the debates and therefore has not been able to get his voice out.

It’s still a possibility that this might happen in the future. For a third-party candidate to win, either a political party has to split or voters from both parties have to vote for the candidate.

Had Bernie Sanders decided to run as an independent following the Democratic National Convention, he would probably have been at all of the debates. He definitely would be polling a lot higher than what Johnson is.

Then there is Jill Stein, the Green party’s nominee. She also has no chance of winning due to Johnson, who has played into the third option scenario. Stein hasn’t made herself known to the public in the way that Johnson has.

In the end, this election is just an example of how divided we all are as a nation. Whomever is elected needs to work together with both sides of the aisle, and not write off or label the other candidate’s supporters.

We are all Americans and remembering that will help us live with a sense of hope and prosperity. Whoever it ends up being, the 45th president should keep that thought in mind when he or she takes the oath of office on Jan. 20.