So looks like things shook out about how I thought they would. Lot of fear and anger all over my social media today. And to be quite honest, the bulk of it is grossly over the top. I swear to God after reading about five statuses, I thought we were destined for concentration camps. But when has anything in politics in this country not been the last several years?
There are a lot of different reasons for and conclusions to draw from this outcome. But the predominant theme here is the middle class has been pissed on, left behind and forgotten by the establishment of both major parties. James Carville once said, "It's the economy, stupid." People vote with their wallets and pocket books quite a bit, and the economy just doesn't work for everyday Americans. An outcome like this was ultimately inevitable. I don't think Trump is the solution to any of this. In fact, he'll likely make it worse. I see more disappointment ahead over the next four years. But he proved to be a master politician and was better at simplifying complex issues into sound bytes better than anyone in modern history. To say that half the people or more who voted for him are racist xenophobes shows the willingness to keep one's head in the sand.
Now things have gotten very real. He has to be our leader. He has said things that can't be unsaid and has a mandate to unite this country and forge a better path forward. I hope his speech last night was sincere, but I'm not holding my breath.
Some miscellaneous observations:
•There was a lot of talk about Clinton's strong ground game and how it would be the difference and how Trump lacked any real organization. But as I mentioned above, simplification can go a long way politically. The best ground game out there in 2016 is social media and Trump was strong in that regard.
•The exit polls were woefully inaccurate but were taken as gospel early on. While I was driving to my county's elections office shortly before 7 to report results to the AP, the consensus on the radio was, after looking at the exit polls, the race would be called around 9:30. Slowly, it became unraveled. Again, in 2016, it may be time to rethink how a lot of polling is done.
•It appears that Clinton will win the popular vote by 200,000 or so. That's somewhat inconsequential when you consider 120 million voted, but it raises again the debate about the Electoral College and is it useful anymore? I don't think either the Electoral College as is or going by a strict popular vote is the best approach. I'd like to see the Electoral College switch to proportional votes being given out. It would seem that would make everyone's vote mean more.
•Like I expected, the black vote did not turn out for Clinton in areas like Detroit and Philadelphia. From what I've read, Trump actually outperformed Romney and McCain among this demographic. I think that's a combination of Trump willing to engage the community (at least somewhat) and his populist message resonating with it.
•At some point, Democrats are going to need to have a come-to-Jesus meeting. Hillary Clinton was an awful candidate and a ton of people decided her shortcomings simply weren't worth closer examination. I got the sense throughout the entire campaign that she and her close surrogates had a sense of entitlement to the White House. The way Bernie Sanders was treated was complete BS and I think quite a few folks realized it in the end. But the party does not have fresh ideas (Neither do Republicans, really).
•More than half of the voters said they were reluctant about their decision. This speaks volumes to the sad state of affairs that was this election. We need more political choices and more seats at the table in this country.
Overall, I hope that both sides will make the most of an opportunity to change their approach in Washington. Usually, if you pay attention, you're able to tell how things are going to go in the next few years depending on who the president is. In this case, probably for the first time ever, I have no clue what the hell is going to happen. And that's probably not a good thing.
