Disclaimer: A column such as this relies on analyzing the general sentiment and prevailing beliefs of most voters during the election. I acknowledge that these sentiments may not necessarily be rooted in fact, but nonetheless they were subjectively responsible for the election’s outcome and thus deserves analysis.
Michelle Obama characterized America as ‘hopeless’ now that Donald J. Trump is the President of the United States. And yes, since the general election is the most accurate poll of public opinion conducted, we can assume that the 54 percent of the country who did not vote for Trump is feeling some amount of distress. More likely than not, many are indeed hopeless. And while I hold the opinion that no law-abiding citizen of the United States should fear Trump, it is never comfortable to lose an election. The 2016 election was the Democrats’ to lose — and now, perhaps instead of trying to overturn the election or generate greater hysteria, it would be more beneficial to reflect on why Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton, especially when he was given only a 15 percent chance of becoming president, as reported by the New York Times. I believe there are two major factors that influenced this election (and Russia is not one of them): the political left and the economy.
In a sense it’s obvious that Trump won because of the left. His ideas won over those presented by Hillary Clinton. However, I believe the real battle of ideas occurred beneath the surface of this election, not on a moderated stage. Take the general feeling on college campuses over the past year as a representation of what occurred on a national scale. The rising ideas of trigger warnings, safe-spaces and censorship has not only angered many young conservatives who want higher education to be a platform for ideological diversity, but it has alienated them from political discourse. Further, the censorship was justified by the lie that any opinion other than that of progressivism must be racist, sexist, homophobic or bigoted in some way. The idea that Trump supporters are a “basket of deplorables,” as stated by Hillary Clinton, was likely the biggest blow to her candidacy during the entire election. In saying that, she gave legitimacy, likely unintentionally, to the culture of censorship that has angered so many conservatives. And if that culture was not enough to drive Trump supporters to the ballot box, perhaps the foul play was. Did anyone really think that Donna Brazile giving the Clinton campaign debate questions ahead of time wouldn’t make voters seriously question her integrity? Or that it was normal for Bill Clinton to happen to run into Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the tarmac of a Phoenix airport for a private meeting regarding “grandchildren and his travels and things like that” while his wife was under investigation by the FBI? It was events such as this that made Hillary Clinton a poor candidate from the start. Finally, the email scandal — for most Trump supporters, lewd comments by Donald Trump pale in comparison to the criminal accusations levied against Hillary Clinton.
How about the economy? Hillary Clinton praised globalism and reportedly told wealthy donors that she dreamed of a world without borders. Donald Trump sharply contrasted that with a message of bringing jobs back home to America and defending our borders with vigilance. He called for a highly controversial Muslim ban, while Hillary called for a huge increase in refugee intake. While his message was called xenophobic and “white nationalist,” it was validated by the horrible violence perpetrated by radical Islamic extremists in countries such as France and Germany, as well as the widespread unemployment in formerly industrial states such as Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. So, I’m sorry to say, but I don’t think accusations of racism and sexism are going to phase many who are desperately searching for work.
So, leftists, Democrats, progressives — here is some friendly advice from me to you. If you want to beat the right in future elections, all you must do is stop the name calling, stop getting “triggered” and start offering up ideas and arguments. Insults don’t change minds, convincing arguments do. Despite my numerous differences with him, I surely believe Bernie Sanders would have been a much more worthy adversary for Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton. He offered palpable change, Hillary offered more of the same. And now we know, Americans want change, not the status quo.
