We ran a long election post mortem in 2016. . .nothing like for the 2020 Election cycle of course, but pretty long, here:
Lex Anteinternet: The 2016 Election: I didn't see that coming. . . like all of the rest of the pundits. It's been a wild election year. Yesterday, Donald Trum...
One things, of many, we said there:
The voters who revolted are, no doubt, going to be accused of being racist. But to desire the America they grew up in, which was more Christian, more employed, and more rural, doesn't make them that way. The Democrats have been offering them Greenwich Village, the Republicans the Houston suburbs. It turns out they like the old Port Arthur, Kansas City or Lincoln Nebraska better, and want to go back. That's not irrational.
Port Arthur Texas. I listed to people discuss the upcoming election two weeks ago at the Port Arthur Starbucks and thought they'd really be surprised when Clinton was elected. Turns out, they were much more on the mark than I was. And it turns out that people in Port Arthur like Port Arthur the way it was twenty or thirty years ago, and they don't like a lot of big, hip trendy urban areas that they're supposed to.
Will Trump be able to do that?
Well, any way you look at it, it's going to be an interesting four years.
Trump will have to act on his populist world view. I'm certain that it will be only momentarily before the pundits will start opining about how Trump, now that he is the President Elect, will moderate his views, etc., but there is no reason whatsoever to believe that. So far, his entire behavior has been true to what appears to be his basic character. We can anticipate that he will continue to act that way. And an electorate that, essentially, voted to rip everything down wants it down. I suspect, therefore, that's what we will get.
I also, quite frankly don't think that this is universally bad. As noted, I never supported Trump, and I did not vote for him yesterday. I'm in the camp so disgusted by both political parties and their candidates that I could not bring myself to hold my note and vote like so many others did. But I do think that Trump will listen to the blue collar element of American society, and somebody needs to. I do not think that this segment, which knows its being forced out of work by a combination of forces that are not of its own making, but which are more than a little the fault of policies favoring the wealthy, will be quiet. Clinton would not really have done anything for those people other than to lament their status, Trump will have to do something. And I also think that Trump will actually nominate justices to the Supreme Court who do not feel compelled to stick to it, such as Justice Anthony Kennedy or who have a social agenda that colors and informs their decisions. Justices who decide the law are needed on the Court and I think they'll actually be appointed.
Trump will have to act on his populist world view. I'm certain that it will be only momentarily before the pundits will start opining about how Trump, now that he is the President Elect, will moderate his views, etc., but there is no reason whatsoever to believe that. So far, his entire behavior has been true to what appears to be his basic character. We can anticipate that he will continue to act that way. And an electorate that, essentially, voted to rip everything down wants it down. I suspect, therefore, that's what we will get.
I also, quite frankly don't think that this is universally bad. As noted, I never supported Trump, and I did not vote for him yesterday. I'm in the camp so disgusted by both political parties and their candidates that I could not bring myself to hold my note and vote like so many others did. But I do think that Trump will listen to the blue collar element of American society, and somebody needs to. I do not think that this segment, which knows its being forced out of work by a combination of forces that are not of its own making, but which are more than a little the fault of policies favoring the wealthy, will be quiet. Clinton would not really have done anything for those people other than to lament their status, Trump will have to do something. And I also think that Trump will actually nominate justices to the Supreme Court who do not feel compelled to stick to it, such as Justice Anthony Kennedy or who have a social agenda that colors and informs their decisions. Justices who decide the law are needed on the Court and I think they'll actually be appointed.
Did I get it right?
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