As has often been said over the past two weeks or so, elections have consequences. By this time we all know - and have accepted the fact - that Donald Trump won the presidential election of 2016. Now that some time has slipped by, what does that really mean? What did the American electorate really say with their votes on election day (well... we know that the majority of voters - by more than 2.000.000 - selected Hillary, but we are beyond that now)? So, lets take a look using the 11/21/16 issue comparison that appeared in The Nation magazine's opening commentary.
1. Trump promised more tax cuts for the rich (and corporations, ed.) and deregulation. Clinton pledges tax hikes for the rich to invest in rebuilding America. Did the voters support tax cuts for the wealthy and oppose rebuilding America?
2. Trump said that he opposes raising the minimum wage; Clinton favors it. Are voters against increasing the minimum wage that would lift thousands of families out of poverty?
3. Trump thinks that global warming is a hoax invented by the Chinese; Clinton sees it as a clear and present danger. Do voters think that global warming is a hoax?
4. Trump has no clue about student debt; Clinton pledges debt-free public college. Do voters want their kids in deeper and deeper debt or priced right out of the opportunity to go to college?
5. Trump promises to build a wall and ship millions of migrants out of the country; Clinton wants comprehensive immigration reform that will bring the undocumented out of the shadows. Do voters want 11,000,000 people - men, women, and children - some here as much as 30 years, law-abiding and paying taxes - all rounded up in camps and shipped out of the country?
6. Trump wants Supreme Court judges that will protect the Second Amendment and repeal a woman's right to choose; Clinton wants justices that will overturn "Citizens United", curbing the role of secret corporate money in our elections. Do voters want "secret corporate bags of cash" influencing elections? Do voters want women to be compelled to carry a pregnancy to term that resulted from incest or rape or is a threat to the mother's health?
When we say that Trump "won" the election or carried this state or that state, are we saying that the American electorate supports guns, tax cuts for wealthy people and corporations, big debt for students, and "dark money" in politics? Do we really mean that the voters oppose increasing the minimum wage, oppose a woman's right to choose what happens to her own body, and wants 11,000,000 people shipped out of the country before the Great American Wall is built across our southern border? If so, I don't recognize those voters. I don't see them as Americans. Yet, it seems that is what they are saying with their feet and with their votes. And, what of those who did not vote - near 50% of the electorate. Does that mean that half of voting Americans really don't care about any of those issues or actions? I doubt that too.
So, what do those election results tell us? If it isn't a reflection on a choice between the issue positions taken by the candidates, then, what is it? Emails? Nationalism and isolationism? Sexism or gender discrimination? FBI announcements? Feelings of frustration and being "left behind, left out, and forgotten?" At this writing, I am not certain of the answers to these questions. What I am certain of is that, in spite of Republicans repeating the line that Trump "received a mandate" in the election, he certainly did not. He lost the popular vote by nearly three million votes, but won the electoral vote 306-232 with 270 required to win election - a mixed message and a narrow win among electors. A 37 vote turn-around would deny the presidency to the Donald - certainly not a "mandate." And, it would seem, in a similar vein,Trump's election as our next President is a mixed message sent by the voters as well. Just what they meant to say is still shrouded in mystery. I am sure it will be a topic of endless research and debate in the weeks ahead. So, join the fun and leave a comment. What do you think?
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