Mr. Trump Goes to Washington

It appears the surveys, media and political pundits got it wrong . . . and for good reason.  The most improbable candidate, who spat on political correctness, who had to win all the states a Republican must win plus some Democratic states, where everything had to go exactly right and then something more – actually won.

We must further recognize the terribly flawed candidate of Hillary Clinton.  Mired in lies, corruption, and investigated for criminal behavior, she just could not excite liberal, urban, minority, and millennial voters as an agent of change.  Unenthused by Clinton, this election was to her base as 2012 was to Mitt Romney when his conservative base of voters stayed home because they were unenthused with him.  Clinton (nor Trump) had the confidence of voters, who when surveyed, a majority viewed unfavorably.  Trump won the election as much as Clinton lost it. 

However, this belies the underpinnings of what lead to Trump’s election.  First, President Barack Obama declared his policies and legacy were on the ballot – and they were and all were rejected.  Second, the nation voted to obliterate the past 16 years of government’s unrestrained growth that correlated with the nation’s crippled economic growth, unnerving deficits, uncontrolled debt, unsustainable entitlements, and dysfunctional foreign policy.  Third, the media was repudiated for untrustworthy and bias reporting.  Fourth, and not to be understated, was the suffocation of political correctness and its assault on speech, religion, and family.  PC revulsion created a new class of “dark voters” who would not participate in surveys or gave false answers for fear of reprisals for being politically incorrect.  These “dark voters” were invisible to the mountain of polling done and made these surveys irrelevant. 

As such, does Donald Trump’s election bring hope to America?  At this point there is no way to tell, but it does send a message to parties, politicians, and media that they are all in ill repute.  D.C., to quote from Obi-Wan Kenobi, is a “wretched hive of scum and villainy.”  The feasting on and redistribution of income by government done at the expense of tax payers has reached a crescendo.  Voters expressed their dissatisfaction with excesses, lack of accountability, agencies that target groups and business out of political favor, special interests, and party politics that are put before the good of the nation.

Democrats and Republicans beware, as both parties are in the cross-hairs of voter wrath.  Democratic PC dogma to brand folk who do not agree with them as science deniers, homophobes, sexists, racists, or simply the “deplorables” got Democrats kicked-out of local and national offices.  Republicans crow they won the Electoral College, but fail to mention they lost the popular vote – again.  And both parties that rushed to “identity politics” were blind to voters who simply saw themselves as individual Americans. 

Parties failed to realize that a large measure of middle-income voters do not see government as the solution to their economic malaise, but see government policies as the cause of it.  Good politics should be about good policy that is reached through compromise.  Free people and free markets, more than government, are the answer.  Republicans need to accommodate some liberal items to govern.  Democrats need to accommodate conservative policies because Republicans have been given a majority by the voters.  Parties must not be captive to the vocal few but serve a wider audience. 

*****

This election had the two most unfavorable candidates.  More people voted against a candidate than they did for a candidate.  However, this distain may have a silver lining as expressed by one disgusted voter about the choices he had: “Next time I’ll pay more attention!”

In Trump we really have no idea how he will govern or if he can at all.  He is not really a Republican, Democrat, conservative, or liberal.  Heck, he is not even a politician.  We cannot tell if any of the statements he made during the election process are real or illusory.

We wish Mr. Trump well as he goes to Washington with the hope he can bring better policy and compromise.  That he will see people individually instead of by identity.  He will get only one shot at this.  He can, if he chooses, transcend parties and become an historic figure, he could fail into divisiveness, or simply fade into history as the most improbable candidate that got elected...but nothing more.