Top Unexpected Topics Trending on Google on Election Night

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On the night when Americans were collectively biting their nails and stressing over who would be the next most powerful man in the world, it appears that some were coping in a much more tangible and potentially lighthearted way.

According to Fox News, the Google search “liquor store near me” hit an all-time high on Tuesday night, according to data from the search giant.

The idea that more Americans than normal were looking for a place to buy booze indicates a couple of things: first that it is likely that more people than normal were looking to get some liquid courage in their veins, stat, and second that these are people who didn’t already know where the liquor stores are.

While it’s plausible that the intake of liquor was at such a fever pitch that more people than normal ran out of their beverage of choice, it also seems likely that those who don’t usually partake in strong drink found themselves looking for something that could be obtained over the counter that would take the edge off their anxiety.

Going into Tuesday’s election, each side seemed to have equal parts overly-confident voters and morose, concerned, and frustrated supporters. News outlets, political pundits, and talking heads seemed to all disagree about not only the outcome but their ideology behind how the outcome would come into being.

According to Fox News, “Underlining global interest in the race to the White House, Google also noted late Tuesday that ‘election’ was the most searched term globally in the prior 24 hours.”

The news outlet went on to expand on what the searches were leading up to the election: “Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has been the most searched candidate in the U.S. over the past day, according to Google, noting that the former vice president has accounted for 51% of candidate searches. President Trump has accounted for 42% of searches, while Libertarian Party nominee Jo Jorgensen and Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins have accounted for 6% and 1%, respectively.”

The internet giant noted that the search data seems to indicate curiosity on the subject and that “It should not be considered an indication of voter intent.”

However, the one thing that most of the population seemed to agree with, was that there were no guarantees, and the change to the voting plans in many states, brought so many variables into play that it was unlikely that there would be any accurate calls made before the actual vote tallies started rolling in.

Even after the major (and minor) news outlets began the work their digitized magic, bringing up charts, numbers, and more percentages than most of us are comfortable seeing in one night, there were projections, retractions, and at least one anchor who vented his frustration with his own network, on-air, for not calling a state for a candidate when it seemed to be a sure bet.

While the argument can be made that each and every election we move into is the “most important election of our lives up to that point” there was a huge sense of importance surrounding this 2020 election, probably because of the social unrest that has plagued the nation.

The sense of impending doom heightened when they stopped counting votes, something that was virtually unheard of until Tuesday evening, and for the first time since the iconic 2000 “hanging chad” debacle, Americans went to bed, and woke up, without a clear winner in the presidential election.

But don’t worry, those who don’t drink were also making use of the resources at their disposal when the stress set in. In addition to seeking out booze, “fries near me” and “Chinese food near me” were also top trends in United States searches, according to Google.

Major takeaways from Tuesday’s search results? In addition to a winner to the presidential election, Americans also need a lesson in healthy coping mechanisms, because alcohol and fried food will take you a long way, but probably not four more (healthy) years.

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