The 2016 presidential election is over. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College vote and Donald Trump won the election and will be our new president. Even at the beginning of the campaign Donald Trump appeared
The 2016 presidential election is over. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College vote and Donald Trump won the election and will be our new president. Even at the beginning of the campaign Donald Trump appeared to be the least qualified major Presidential candidate ever to run. He had no previous public service experience and he had a reputation of being both abrasive and extremely self centered.
Yet Trump won the primary and became the Republican candidate. As candidate Trump attacked both Democrats and fellow Republicans including attacking Sen. John McCain in saying that he did not feel the senator was a hero for being a prisoner in Vietnam and that he preferred those who were not in prison.
In his campaign, many of his views were in direct conflict with established Republican positions and were extreme such as “All women who have abortions should be put in jail.”
In terms of morals, his morals seem non-existent. He bragged about having numerous affairs with women including with friends wives and he felt that as a “star” you can do anything with women.
Trump refused to reveal his federal tax returns when such federal income tax returns had been released by the candidates in the five previous elections. He refused to release his, yet he required his potential running mate to provide his three last years of federal tax returns.
Trump also said that Hispanics were rapists and murderers. Trump also felt that Muslims were not true Americans and that their entry into the country should be stopped, at least for a period of time.
He attached China for dumping lower priced steel on the US market even thou he used Chinese steel in building Trump Towers when US steel was immediately available.
He and his sub-contractors knowingly hired illegal aliens to work on Trump’s construction projects where if such employees complained about their wages they would be exposed and would be deported.
Trump’s tax plan would reduce the taxes on the most wealthy even though during the past 10 years the very wealthy received 90 percent of the increase in wealth.
Trump also stated that if became president he would put Hillary Clinton in jail. He seems to not realize that as president he has no power to put anyone in jail. Such power rests with the third branch of government — the Judiciary.
Trump, in addition, has not tried to make peace with his own party and it has reached the point where the very popular and outstanding House Speaker Ryan and other Republican members of Congress had chosen not to endorse Trump. Pretty convincing that they felt that Trump should not be president.
Trump won the election by:
First: Ignoring the fact that Hillary Clinton was a very popular United States Senator from New York where she worked effectively with both Democrats and Republicans and was respected by both.
Second: Ignoring the fact that she was a very effective Secretary of State where she won the respect of other nations and her approval rating in the United States was 69 percent which was perhaps the highest approval rating of any politician or official at that time.
Third: By taking one issue only to attack her and that issue was her handling of her emails and having a private server. Hillary Clinton admitted reluctantly that this was a mistake and she was sorry for making it and she might have previously lied in revealing the extent of it.
This question was examined thoroughly by the FBI who concluding that her handling of the emails was careless and reckless but there was no criminal intent and no basis for an indictment to be served. This became Trump’s central campaign: ‘Lying Hillary.’ and saying it often enough it worked and the electorate apparently bought the line. This one mistake, if it happened, would normally be drowned in importance to Trump’s many, many faults including countless lies by Trump’s denial of valid accusations against him.
Fourth and Final Reason: Trump won by bringing out the worst of some of those voting by increasing the natural fear of being left behind (despite the fact that our unemployment rate is only 5 percent and that is the lowest of any other industrial nation), the often unexpressed bias against minorities, and the bias against Muslims regarding it as a foreign religion.
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Joe Frisinger is a resident of Princeville.
