I have to admit I didn't vote at all during that election, half because of how unlikable both candidates were.
But the other half of the reason was that I kind of figured Hilary had it in the bag. She was simply better resourced in terms of money and in terms of the groups and individuals who were supporting her. How could she not win? Especially against Trump? Sure, she made some mistakes along the way, but Trump also mocked a disabled reporter during one of his campaign appearances. One could argue that he made just as many mistakes, if not more.
I don't really think Trump had any unfair advantages one could consider substantial (if anything he had a lot of disadvantages) nor do I believe that Hilary made any mistakes that were really damaging to her campaign. Its nuts, but the most convincing explanation I can think of is the weirdest and most esoteric one.
It’s near impossible to believe around these parts, but I think people liked his incorrectness, and also liked his general policies.
That he was a showman helped the memes. But I encourage you to consider mundane things like maybe people were tired of status quo globalism and willing to take a bitter pill to try and fix it.
> It’s near impossible to believe around these parts, but I think people liked his incorrectness, and also liked his general policies.
I think a lot of people were just done with the current political system which had been failing them for generations and wanted an outsider to come in and shake (if not break) up the system. Sanders gained a huge following attracting massive crowds and passionate supporters for the same reason. People wanted actual change but the DNC wasn't having it so they did everything they could to undermine sanders before the primary. Republicans threw everyone they could think of into the race.
Trump wasn't a politician, didn't act like one, and no one in power wanted him to be elected. His election meant that I lost a lot of faith in Americans, but I gained a lot of faith in our electoral system. People can vote in someone even when the most powerful don't want them to.
Yes it really is as simple as what you just said. I find it funny and sad when opponents of Trump do all these weird mental contortions to explain why he won, from “trump voters are brainwashed rednecks” to Russiagate. Turns out some people do want lesser taxes, lesser regulation, don’t care for abortion and simply don’t mind trumps buffoonery. And no, not all of trump voters are racist. I might even say a negligible fraction are actually racist.
> She was simply better resourced in terms of money and in terms of the groups and individuals who were supporting her.
Hell we even learned from leaked documents her campaign instructed the major networks to focus more on Trump as they thought he would be the easiest candidate for her to beat.
I don't know if Trump would have gotten the Republican nomination if he hadn't gotten so much extra airtime and coverage during the primaries- not only from news media, but late night news comedians praying he would get it so she had an easy win.
Likewise, her campaign had some phenomenal missteps, like never visiting a fairly rural swing state because they just assumed (wrongly) that she would win, while wining and dining megadonors in states that would never have voted for Trump like California.
Her and president Obama's obvious disdain for rural people (as evidenced by the "bitter clingers" and "basket of deplorables" quips among other incidents) made democratic establishment politicians rather disliked.
Personally, I think there are quite a few democrats who could have beaten Trump in 2016.
But the other half of the reason was that I kind of figured Hilary had it in the bag. She was simply better resourced in terms of money and in terms of the groups and individuals who were supporting her. How could she not win? Especially against Trump? Sure, she made some mistakes along the way, but Trump also mocked a disabled reporter during one of his campaign appearances. One could argue that he made just as many mistakes, if not more.
I don't really think Trump had any unfair advantages one could consider substantial (if anything he had a lot of disadvantages) nor do I believe that Hilary made any mistakes that were really damaging to her campaign. Its nuts, but the most convincing explanation I can think of is the weirdest and most esoteric one.
Just can't ignore those spooky synchronicities.