It's not even 9:30, and I'm already hearing discussion among politicians who frequent the floors of the courthouse I work in, discussing this issue. How did Trump win? By appearances, he shot himself in the proverbial foot a time or two, between some of his antics and that tape. Yet, here we are on November 9 looking at the man preparing to have a seat in the big chair in the Oval Office. So, how did it happen? Some things I've heard so far, for your discussion and debate:
1. The negative campaigning. At least here in Ohio, there were very few ads for Clinton in which she said anything positive about herself, or what her plans were if elected. People are tired of the negative, and it left a bad taste in their mouths.
2. The FBI announcement of a renewed investigation of the email debacle. Yes, it was wiped out in a couple of days, but it was a nice reminder of the mess she was trying to keep locked away.
3. Tired of the status quo. Voters were tired of having the same political insiders in power, and she's about as good a symbol of political insider as exists. She climbed to power riding on her name and got a Senate seat. She became SecState as a political favor, more or less. She was the chosen one by the democrat big wigs, as demonstrated by the email releases showing that she was going to be the candidate, no matter what the popular vote did for Bernie. I know from talking to some Dems that this pissed them off enough to get them to vote for Johnson/Weld. That was enough to sway the tide here in Ohio.
4. Voter apathy/action. A lot of Dems in Ohio are saying that if more of their core had gotten out to vote, the state would have swung in Clinton's favor. In other words, the big city and traditional Dem areas. They didn't. A lot cite to voter apathy. At the same time, a lot of people on the other side of the fence, the "non-college educated white males" came out in force. Smaller counties in Ohio saw near-record turn out, and they weren't driving down to the fire house to cast their votes for the woman who promised to shut down the coal mines and open the borders to refugees with a basket of benefits waiting for each one.
5. Hubris. When Hillary came to Ohio, she stuck to the big metro areas...Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati. Places where Dems can still win a majority. Small town, Ohio was ignored. And, I think of this as a huge case of ego costing the Dems big time. Yes, in Ohio, the population is larger in the metro areas. But, Trump won 78 of 88 counties. She won the big cities, but not by a large enough margin to make up for the ass-kicking she took in the rest of the state, which she ignored in her campaign. The rural areas don't like politicians. They don't like insiders. They want someone who isn't a professional politician. And, in choosing to ignore rural Ohio time and again, she only reinforced that image in the minds of these voters. I spent some time driving around the state this fall, and I noticed how when you got 20 miles outside the outer belt of the big cities, the signs were significantly more Trump than Hillary. She didn't do anything to counter that, and I believe her ego (and the ego of her supporters) led her to ignore the "non-college educated white male", thinking that carrying the big cities would be enough. It wasn't.
Thoughts?
