I am writing this as much for some catharsis as for sharing some of my thoughts on the momentous election results of last night. I know there is a whole lot of anguished (& no doubt, congratulatory) text being generated, but I wanted to get my own down before reading other viewpoints.
It has become somewhat fashionable for folks to claim that, "I told you Trump could make it!" Or some variation thereof. I make no such claim. I was fully and completely surprised by the results. While there was always an undercurrent of unease, never in my conscious thinking did I believe that Trump being elected the President of the United States was a real possibility. I still can't believe it. Having said that, I was aware of the source of that unease: it was a couple of things. First, the possibility that the "silent majority" that Trump claimed was indeed real and the second was the doubt that, coming immediately after the first non-white president, there would be enough men (& women) willing to vote in a woman as president.
The first reason can be understood as follows: While a lot of people (especially men) liked what Trump had to say, they were not comfortable saying so in public or to pollsters. It had become so reflexive to look down and heap derision upon anybody who expressed support for Trump that many of his supporters just went silent. It became impossible (at least to Hillary supporters) to separate the man from the message, but that's not how many of his supporters saw it. In the privacy of the voting booth, this silent majority was free to vote their true beliefs.
The second reason follows along similar lines. The white patriarch as the benevolent leader of the country is firmly established, despite all protestations (and actions) towards gender and racial equality. When they finally "let" (yes, this is how a lot of people view it) a black man become president, it was almost with a self-congratulatory tone - "See, how magnanimous we can be. And surely, this proves that we are not racist." The reaction to Hillary then, is not surprisingly, "And you want me to do what now?" The dragon of racism may have been dealt a body blow, but misogyny is alive and well.
Of course, I squelched down the unease these reasons may have caused and here I am, less than 24 hours later wondering what happened. There will be plenty of analysis by people who are far smarter and better informed, but at least for me, it is the sobering realization that those of us that believed in American exceptionalism were wrong. People here have the same fears and biases as people in any other country. The same fear of "outsiders," the same closing of ranks, the same mistrust of liberal values. Overreaction? Perhaps, but I think we should all be permitted that today.
How and maybe, why did this happen? Was Hillary really so flawed a candidate or did Trump have such a compelling message? I have always believed that it takes an exceptional, beyond reproach, person to shatter any barrier or stereotype. Whether it was Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics, or Jackie Robinson in Major League Baseball, or indeed, Barack Obama in 2008, the individual has to be so compelling that shattering the barrier becomes a given. Was Hillary such a candidate? Perhaps so, in her personal story. But, a political leader is also a very public person, somebody that has to inspire and motivate not just through actions, but also through words and an open embrace of the people you seek to lead. And it is in those latter attributes that I found Hillary wanting.
Then there is the appeal of Trump - As I have written earlier, I believe he tapped into a well of resentment over political correctness stretched to the limit. The left is so afraid of causing offense to anybody that they end up sounding disingenuous. I believe the advances on various social issues that we have had are just that - advances. However, there needed to be some acknowledgement that they are not easy choices for everybody. Not everyone can immediately appreciate the virtue of allowing people to choose a restroom based on their gender "identity." Similarly on terrorism. The educated, liberal elite demanded that we see terrorism as a very particular problem, something that should and could be tackled in a vacuum. Maybe that is the moral high ground, but that's not always obvious to the average joe, who just wants things to be the way they always were.
On the economy, Hillary faced a similar challenge - does she embrace Obama's policies and achievements or does she talk about how she is going to fix the problems that are clearly there, with the implicit criticism of Obama that that would mean? She decided to go with the former and I think that was a mistake. Accepting that all was not well and that there were indeed constituencies that were falling behind would have dulled at least a bit of Trump's message.
Lest I give the wrong impression, all the above notwithstanding, I still believe that Trump should not have been elected. He is unfit to lead anybody, let alone an entire nation. Hillary was so much the better choice, which is why watching her farewell speech this morning was so painful. Now all we can wonder is what might have been.
Where do we go from here? After the grief dulls and the quotidian business of life resumes, what will the long term implications be? The biggest fear I have is for the social fabric of this country. Trump will make at least one Supreme Court appointment and more than likely a few more. That will set the court on a conservative path for a generation or two. What might the damage be? No chance of overturning Citizens United, of course. No chance of any meaningful gun control measures either. Could Roe V Wade be challenged? It will certainly come up. Could marriage equality be challenged? It will also come up.
Then there are the environmental causes - Trump is going to repeal lots of regulations in that realm - just how many remains to be seen. But, the greater danger could be the sins of omission - ignoring climate change altogether.
Gender equality will take a backseat, equal pay will become a quaint concept. It will become ok to question the loyalty of anybody that is "not like us." The rich will get a tax cut and the economic divide will just get larger.
On that last point though, I wonder if Trump's inherent populism will give him some pause? After all he has been a Democrat for most of his life and as has been pointed out throughout this campaign, so many of his policies go against GOP orthodoxy. So, maybe therein lies a safety valve of sorts - that an obdurate Republican congress will not let him have his way in all matters. And on the flip side, he won't be the pliable puppet that Bush 43 was.
Sometimes one has to vent - it doesn't solve anything, but it at least provides some temporary relief. Here is to hoping that I am wrong about most of what I have written above.
It has become somewhat fashionable for folks to claim that, "I told you Trump could make it!" Or some variation thereof. I make no such claim. I was fully and completely surprised by the results. While there was always an undercurrent of unease, never in my conscious thinking did I believe that Trump being elected the President of the United States was a real possibility. I still can't believe it. Having said that, I was aware of the source of that unease: it was a couple of things. First, the possibility that the "silent majority" that Trump claimed was indeed real and the second was the doubt that, coming immediately after the first non-white president, there would be enough men (& women) willing to vote in a woman as president.
The first reason can be understood as follows: While a lot of people (especially men) liked what Trump had to say, they were not comfortable saying so in public or to pollsters. It had become so reflexive to look down and heap derision upon anybody who expressed support for Trump that many of his supporters just went silent. It became impossible (at least to Hillary supporters) to separate the man from the message, but that's not how many of his supporters saw it. In the privacy of the voting booth, this silent majority was free to vote their true beliefs.
The second reason follows along similar lines. The white patriarch as the benevolent leader of the country is firmly established, despite all protestations (and actions) towards gender and racial equality. When they finally "let" (yes, this is how a lot of people view it) a black man become president, it was almost with a self-congratulatory tone - "See, how magnanimous we can be. And surely, this proves that we are not racist." The reaction to Hillary then, is not surprisingly, "And you want me to do what now?" The dragon of racism may have been dealt a body blow, but misogyny is alive and well.
Of course, I squelched down the unease these reasons may have caused and here I am, less than 24 hours later wondering what happened. There will be plenty of analysis by people who are far smarter and better informed, but at least for me, it is the sobering realization that those of us that believed in American exceptionalism were wrong. People here have the same fears and biases as people in any other country. The same fear of "outsiders," the same closing of ranks, the same mistrust of liberal values. Overreaction? Perhaps, but I think we should all be permitted that today.
How and maybe, why did this happen? Was Hillary really so flawed a candidate or did Trump have such a compelling message? I have always believed that it takes an exceptional, beyond reproach, person to shatter any barrier or stereotype. Whether it was Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics, or Jackie Robinson in Major League Baseball, or indeed, Barack Obama in 2008, the individual has to be so compelling that shattering the barrier becomes a given. Was Hillary such a candidate? Perhaps so, in her personal story. But, a political leader is also a very public person, somebody that has to inspire and motivate not just through actions, but also through words and an open embrace of the people you seek to lead. And it is in those latter attributes that I found Hillary wanting.
Then there is the appeal of Trump - As I have written earlier, I believe he tapped into a well of resentment over political correctness stretched to the limit. The left is so afraid of causing offense to anybody that they end up sounding disingenuous. I believe the advances on various social issues that we have had are just that - advances. However, there needed to be some acknowledgement that they are not easy choices for everybody. Not everyone can immediately appreciate the virtue of allowing people to choose a restroom based on their gender "identity." Similarly on terrorism. The educated, liberal elite demanded that we see terrorism as a very particular problem, something that should and could be tackled in a vacuum. Maybe that is the moral high ground, but that's not always obvious to the average joe, who just wants things to be the way they always were.
On the economy, Hillary faced a similar challenge - does she embrace Obama's policies and achievements or does she talk about how she is going to fix the problems that are clearly there, with the implicit criticism of Obama that that would mean? She decided to go with the former and I think that was a mistake. Accepting that all was not well and that there were indeed constituencies that were falling behind would have dulled at least a bit of Trump's message.
Lest I give the wrong impression, all the above notwithstanding, I still believe that Trump should not have been elected. He is unfit to lead anybody, let alone an entire nation. Hillary was so much the better choice, which is why watching her farewell speech this morning was so painful. Now all we can wonder is what might have been.
Where do we go from here? After the grief dulls and the quotidian business of life resumes, what will the long term implications be? The biggest fear I have is for the social fabric of this country. Trump will make at least one Supreme Court appointment and more than likely a few more. That will set the court on a conservative path for a generation or two. What might the damage be? No chance of overturning Citizens United, of course. No chance of any meaningful gun control measures either. Could Roe V Wade be challenged? It will certainly come up. Could marriage equality be challenged? It will also come up.
Then there are the environmental causes - Trump is going to repeal lots of regulations in that realm - just how many remains to be seen. But, the greater danger could be the sins of omission - ignoring climate change altogether.
Gender equality will take a backseat, equal pay will become a quaint concept. It will become ok to question the loyalty of anybody that is "not like us." The rich will get a tax cut and the economic divide will just get larger.
On that last point though, I wonder if Trump's inherent populism will give him some pause? After all he has been a Democrat for most of his life and as has been pointed out throughout this campaign, so many of his policies go against GOP orthodoxy. So, maybe therein lies a safety valve of sorts - that an obdurate Republican congress will not let him have his way in all matters. And on the flip side, he won't be the pliable puppet that Bush 43 was.
Sometimes one has to vent - it doesn't solve anything, but it at least provides some temporary relief. Here is to hoping that I am wrong about most of what I have written above.
3 comments:
Thoughtful post from Wait-but-Why: http://waitbutwhy.us7.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=250cab41702ae3ef7a2c1c965&id=e6902fa1d5&e=8b27846326
Every well summarized RK!
All valid points for any halfway-decent conservative candidate and while W's election was also surprising it did not cause the level of disillusionment that this one has. What caused me the most sorrow was that people were willing to elect an supremely indecent man to further their causes. The level of despondence I saw at work today was unprecedented.
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