The news is full of reasons why Trump won and Hillary lost. Each one is sufficient to explain it.
It was almost inevitable. History shows after 8 years the public almost always wants a change. After 8 years of Obama it was time for a Republican.
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| Simple: The taller candidate always wins |
It was almost inevitable. America wasn't ready for a woman, with voters interpreting her as shrill and bitchy and Trump as strong.
It was almost inevitable. The taller candidate almost always wins, and that was Trump. We "look up" to leaders.
It was almost inevitable. Don't overthink this. Elections are about change vs. continuity and Hillary was stuck being the continuity candidate and Trump represented change.
Hillary handled it wrong. Message.
her message was about identity and it should have been about jobs
her message was about process rather than results
her message was wonky and boring and un-inspiring
Hillary handled it wrong. Personality and behavior:
her email server was a fatal mis-step
her loyalty to Huma, a Muslim, confirmed that Hillary was un-relatable
her speeches to Goldman Sachs confirmed she was sold out
her handling of Benghazi confirmed she was incompetent and uncaring
her lies about little and big things confirmed she was untrustworthy
her defensiveness and secretiveness make her seem in-authentic
her un-likability and lack of extroversion make her a wonk, not a politician
her being un-relatable to average people (not driving, vacationing with rich people, her social class) showed that she was a hopelessly out of touch elite
She handled it wrong. Allies.
her being tight with the political establishment when voters wanted an outsider
her being tight with blacks and Hispanics and women, who didn't come through for her, and there are lots more whites than people of color
her being tight with the Democratic establishment which locked her into being part of the corrupt political establishment
She handled it wrong. Primary.,
Sanders had the correct message and was a more appealing candidate and should have won, but the weaker candidate slipped through thanks to super-delegates and the early southern state primaries
Sanders split and de-motivated Democrats and the progressive left so she led a divided party
She handled it wrong. Democratic Party is coming apart.
she didn't realize that the progressive wing is populist--not "liberal" so her leadership of a coalition that included the political elites meant she lost crucial votes that made the difference
She handled it wrong. The people in America's heartland, which include the upper midwest, resent the cultural imperialism and snobbiness of the coasts and Hillary let herself be allied with "Brooklyn" hipsters rather than Akron or St. Louis. It was the revenge of the "flyover people."
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| Trump Twitter Followers |
he understood the media landscape like no one else: be interesting and dominate the news
he understood the social media landscape: twitter and Facebook reach tens of millions
he is a charismatic politician and charisma wins
he understands the gladiatorial psycho-drama of politics, which is really just professional wrestling or comedia del arte with staged heros and cartoonish villains
he projected confidence and dominance and looked like a commander in chief and voters chose strength
Trump handled it right. Message.
he understood voters' desire to retreat on social and racial and demographic change--it was mostly about race and white identity
he said aloud what people believed but were afraid to say regarding Muslims and race--it was mostly about getting real about offense and political correctness
he successfully positioned Obama as "other" and "foreign" with his birtherism ploy and transferred that estrangement to Hillary
he successfully identified voters' discomfort with globalism's economic victims
he successfully identified voters' desire for full throated patriotism and America first and greatest and people liked his assertion of "winning"
he successfully made himself the "peace" candidate with an end to foreign interventionism
The election was rigged. The FBI staged a coup with the announcement of the re-opened investigation.
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| Jill Stein is investigating: counties without a paper record |
The election was rigged. The Kremlin hacked the Democrats and dished out embarrassing material through a Wikileaks accomplice openly and intentionally to help Trump and hurt Hillary.
The election was rigged. Voting machines in the upper midwest show lower vote counts for Hillary than do counties with optical scanners which have a paper record. The election was stolen.
The election was rigged. The Constitution rigged it. Actually Hillary won the popular vote and it is a constitutional quirk involving an 18th Century deal to get buy-in from small states and electors do the actual voting.
The election was rigged. Fake news sites, some by the Russians and some by entrepreneurs, flooded the internet with defamatory semi-plausible stories that circulated.
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