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Election and What Now
9 years ago
Well, then...
So Trump got elected...great...
That said, I thought I might try to make some sense of what's happened. I have a degree in Political Science, I do research into international politics and military matters, and I'd like to think I can grasp what's happening as well as the next guy.
To be clear, this in no way endorses Trump. I didn't vote for the man, but I did vote.
A number of people are crowing "how the hell did this happen?" It happened because...
1. Trump seems to be the anti-candidate candidate. He says things atypical of what a candidate should say. He does things that would otherwise give other candidates pause. He pisses people off. And this is what made him attractive. People didn't care what he was saying, or even if what he was saying had legitimacy. They fell in love with him simply because he said it. This same phenomenon followed the birth of the Tea Party.
2. Trump is to the Republicans of 2016 what Obama was to the Democrats of 2008: a fresh face from (the most part) outside the political known realm. People felt someone unexposed to politics might be able to fix politics. In truth, it's really the opposite.
3. Trump, like his opponents, took advantage of the sense of "us versus them," demonizing and delegitimizing the opposing party. It was as if anyone who didn't vote for Trump was somehow less American than anyone voting at all. This divide started happening all the way back in 2000 with Bush versus Gore, when we started feeling the sense that the opposing party was a threat to the country. Media pundits, Olbermann, Beck, and politicians milked this to death, and today we have this 'civil war' of sorts, where we identify each other by party before identifying each other as fellow citizens.
We need to realize that every voting American is an American first. We need to start acting like Americans putting loyalty to country BEFORE loyalty to party. Now, Trump might not be your President, and Hillary might not be your candidate, but in the end, you are an American. You have a duty to support your country in things you agree with, and speak up when you don't. Uniformed men and women and even civilians fought to protect this right and died for it. Invoke it, use it, be a good citizen, and remember that at the end of the day, we're all Americans here.
So respect it. Respect each other. Work together to make this country great (can't believe I'm actually finding myself saying that), and work together to support your fellow citizen.
So Trump got elected...great...
That said, I thought I might try to make some sense of what's happened. I have a degree in Political Science, I do research into international politics and military matters, and I'd like to think I can grasp what's happening as well as the next guy.
To be clear, this in no way endorses Trump. I didn't vote for the man, but I did vote.
A number of people are crowing "how the hell did this happen?" It happened because...
1. Trump seems to be the anti-candidate candidate. He says things atypical of what a candidate should say. He does things that would otherwise give other candidates pause. He pisses people off. And this is what made him attractive. People didn't care what he was saying, or even if what he was saying had legitimacy. They fell in love with him simply because he said it. This same phenomenon followed the birth of the Tea Party.
2. Trump is to the Republicans of 2016 what Obama was to the Democrats of 2008: a fresh face from (the most part) outside the political known realm. People felt someone unexposed to politics might be able to fix politics. In truth, it's really the opposite.
3. Trump, like his opponents, took advantage of the sense of "us versus them," demonizing and delegitimizing the opposing party. It was as if anyone who didn't vote for Trump was somehow less American than anyone voting at all. This divide started happening all the way back in 2000 with Bush versus Gore, when we started feeling the sense that the opposing party was a threat to the country. Media pundits, Olbermann, Beck, and politicians milked this to death, and today we have this 'civil war' of sorts, where we identify each other by party before identifying each other as fellow citizens.
We need to realize that every voting American is an American first. We need to start acting like Americans putting loyalty to country BEFORE loyalty to party. Now, Trump might not be your President, and Hillary might not be your candidate, but in the end, you are an American. You have a duty to support your country in things you agree with, and speak up when you don't. Uniformed men and women and even civilians fought to protect this right and died for it. Invoke it, use it, be a good citizen, and remember that at the end of the day, we're all Americans here.
So respect it. Respect each other. Work together to make this country great (can't believe I'm actually finding myself saying that), and work together to support your fellow citizen.
