Election 2016:
The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election was of special interest to me. I followed it closely. I came up with a few conclusions, which I will share.
First, the facts:
The 2016 U.S. Presidential Election was the 58th quadrennial American presidential election. The Republican ticket was comprised of businessman Donald J. Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence. They defeated the Democratic ticket of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senator Tim Kaine. Trump is scheduled to take office as the 45th President, and Pence as the 48th Vice President on January 20, 2017.
Donald Trump's campaign drew on his personal image. His primary campaign slogan was "Make America Great Again". He insisted that Washington is broken and can only be fixed by an outsider. He opposed many free trade deals and military interventionist policies. He opposed cuts to Medicare and Social Security. He promised to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.
Up until the election most media forecasts projected a Trump victory as unlikely. While Clinton received about 2.9 million more votes, Trump won a decisive victory in the Electoral College winning 30 states with 306 pledged electors out of 538. In the electoral college 7 electors voted against their pledged candidate, two against Trump and 5 against Clinton. Trump received 304 electoral votes while Clinton received 227. Trump was the 5th person in U.S. history to become president despite losing the popular vote. He will be the first president without prior experience in public service.
Here's what I think:
The press and the so called insider experts on both sides of the aisle got it wrong. They thought that Trump could never win. Yet he did. They might do well to realize that just wanting it cannot make it so.
I believe that the media and political insiders do not like Trump because he is not one of them. He will not follow their rules. He does not buy into their agenda. He is not bound by "political correctness".
I believe the business of the media is to sell newspapers and garner market share on television. They publish what will do that. Any resemblance to the truth is purely coincidental.
During the campaign Donald Trump was asked if he would accept the outcome of the election. He stated he did not know for sure , but he would accept if he won. It was the Democrats who would not accept the results. They complained about the Electoral College system. They talked about electors not voting for their pledged candidates. All that is past now. Donald Trump is set to be inaugurated.
So, the bottom line take away for me is simply, I do not believe or trust the media and I do not believe or trust politicians.
What do you think?
