Why Trump Won: The Complete Analysis

In this four-part series I will explore:

Part I: Three Myths about the 2016 election that must be dispelled

  1. Myth 1: We’re a colorblind society and race played no role in the election
  2. Myth 2: Economic anxiety is why people voted for Trump
  3. Myth 3: Trump voters will not vote for him again.   (Myth #3 is why you should read this article: because Trump or someone like him can indeed win again in 2020 if we don’t learn and act based on the 2016 election.)

Part II: The Four Factors That Created an Environment where Trump COULD Win

  • Factor 1: The Electoral College – Only in America. Literally.
  • Factor 2: Bad Polling. Really Bad.
  • Factor 3: The Media
  • Factor 4: Russian Interference and Voter Suppression

Part III: The Four Reasons People Voted for Donald Trump

  • Reason 1: Trump’s Charisma and Communication
  • Reason 2: Concerns About Immigration
  • Reason 3: Sexism – the small elephant in the room
  • Reason 4: Racism – the big huge elephant in the room

Part IV: What we can do as progressives to ensure that we learn from history and make sure this doesn’t happen again.

trump inaugaration

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN????!!!!!   Photo from New York Times

People like simple answers but the fact of the matter is that complex issues like these often require complex analyses to arrive at the correct answer(s). There is no one magic bullet answer to the question of why Trump won, but it does come down to a few basic things. Since election night, I’ve read countless different analyses of why Trump won and while a few touch on a couple correct points, I don’t think any of them comes close to getting all of the central points that we need to understand this vitally important issue. So let’s get into it!

PART I of IV: 3 MYTHS ABOUT THE ELECTION

Many people have theories about why Trump won and many of them are wrong. First let’s dispel some myths.

Myth #1: We’re a “post-racial” society of “color-blind” people and race played little role in the election

Folks insisting that his election had nothing to do with race or gender could not be more wrong. They are either deliberately

Bigfoot on Unicorn
If you believe in this, you probably also believe race played no role in Trump’s election.

lying, or living in a post-racial utopian fantasy bubble. Race matters in this country, now just as much as it did in the 1950’s and the 1850’s. There’s a reason that Trump was officially endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan. The day after Trump’s election Andrew Anglin, founder of neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer said to his hundreds of thousands of online readers: “Our Glorious Leader has ascended to God Emperor. Make no mistake about it: we did this. If it were not for us, it wouldn’t have been possible.” And there’s a reason that hate crimes have increased dramatically since his election.

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Myth #2: “Economic Anxiety” is why people voted for Trump

Folks insisting that Trump won because of the economic struggles of white working class voters– are also completely wrong. Obama rescued us from the greatest economic collapse since the Great Depression and ushered in eight years of unparalled economic growth. The Obama economy has outerperformed both Bush presidents and even Reagan on nearly every economic measure including job creation, economic growth, and investment. “It’s the economy” sounds like a tempting argument but once you understand the psychology of the Trump voter, you’ll understand that practically NOBODY voted for Trump because of the economy or their economic situation. Many people said “I voted for Trump because of  the economy” simply because it is not socially acceptable to say: “I voted for Trump because I don’t like immigrants.”  The irony, of course, is that the same people complaining that America is too politically correct, give politically correct reasons (“He’ll bring back coal jobs”) for voting for Trump instead of the politically incorrect but truthful answer that they really voted for him: “I can’t vote for a woman… or…There are too many immigrants coming here.”

Obama Job Growth

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Myth #3: Trump Voters will abandon him in four years.

If Donald Trump isn’t impeached or doesn’t resign, he could certainly win again in 2020.

According to a poll from Politico/Morning Consult from November 2017, only 7% of Trump voters said they would vote for a different candidate. And that compares to 8% of Hillary Clinton voters. Trump’s approval rating has basically held steady at 40% since inauguration in February 2017.

Gallup Approval Rating for Trump

Trump’s Approval rating holds steady despite scandal after scandal. His supporters aren’t going anywhere. Like he accurately said, he could shoot someone in the middle of 5th Avenue and they’d still vote for him.

Donald Trump or Mike Pence (if Trump is impeached) or some other Republican absolutely can win again. The people that voted for Trump have not gone anywhere. They are still here, they still vote, and they absolutely LOVE what Trump has done so far. This last part shocks liberals when I say that. They respond: “But Trump  hasn’t done anything! He hasn’t passed any meaningful legislation! He’s a failure and no one will vote for him/Republicans in 2020.” These people simply do not get it. Trump’s supporters absolutely LOVE what he’s done so far. Again, you must go to conservative websites and watch Fox News to understand this. You won’t learn this from watching MSNBC.  Trump fans LOOOVE what Trump has done. And what has he done? Since his election, the number of refugees admitted to the USA has dropped by half. Yes, half! Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests are up 40% (though deportations are down). He attempted to ban Muslims and is still trying to make that happen. And Trump’s stance on H1B Visas has led to reductions in the hiring of foreign workers by US companies. He is doing exactly what he said he would and exactly what his supporters want him to do.

So don’t fool yourself.  Trump voters love his performance so far and WILL vote for him again.

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The unemployed coal workers will still be unemployed in four years and they will still vote for him. No wall will be built, but the people chanting “Build the wall!” at his rallies will still vote for him four years from now. Why? Because they didn’t vote for him because he’s going to build a wall. They voted for him because he SAID he was going to build a wall. Because he WANTS a wall. They voted for him because of what he represents. The fact that he said “I’m going to build a wall” means that he’s 100% anti-immigrant and that’s why they voted for him. The wall itself is meaningless; they simply want someone in office who aligns with their views on immigration and will take some tangible steps (whatever those steps are, whether they involve a wall or not) to limit immigration.
And the perpetually unemployed coal workers? They will vote for him again too. Because they didn’t vote for him because he said he will bring back the coal industry. That was just a politically correct answer to make them not seem racist. They voted for him because of what he represents: a return to power for whites and the preservation of the power of males, specifically white males. (more on this later) The coal workers know that NO ONE can bring their jobs back. But having a white male in power makes them feel good, it boosts their ego, it re-affirms their place and status in the world, it repairs their broken self-esteem, it restores their position in the social order above Blacks, Hispanics, and women. Above being the key word. Surprising as it may seem, having a white man in power actually makes them feel better than actually having a job again makes them feel. To many people pride and self-esteem (however distorted) are more important than earning a paycheck.

 

 

 

Here’s what it was about. The key reasons that Trump won, in no particular order.

PART II of IV: The Four Things That Created an Environment where Trump COULD Win

Factor 1: The Electoral College

Hillary Clinton got 2 million more votes than Trump; 48% of the country’s voters vs 47% for Trump. She won what America calls “the popular vote” and what every other country on earth simply calls “the vote”. She won the vote but lost the election because of the Electoral College. The same thing happened to another Democratic Presidential candidate- Al Gore- who won 540,000 more votes than George W. Bush, but lost the electoral college. So in just two decades, two Democrats have lost the White House simply because of our archaic, undemocratic Electoral College system.

There are about 194 countries on earth and fewer than ten use an electoral college system. The other 184 countries (95% of countries on this planet) elect their leaders based on the “popular vote” which is rightfully called the vote in those countries. Many countries have both a head of state and an executive leader. For example, India has a President (head of state) and a Prime Minister (executive leader). The head of state is a figurehead with little actual power, and the executive leader (the prime minister) is the person with the real power. Some countries, like America, do not have a “head of state” and have only an executive leader. Of the approximately ten countries using an electoral college, only ONE of them uses their electoral college to elect their executive leader. Guess which one! That’s right, the USA is the only country ON THE PLANET to elect it executive leader using an electoral college. Think about that.

Again, here’s the global breakdown:

  • 184 countries: Do not have an electoral college. Elect all their leaders based on the vote (what America strangely calls the “popular vote”).
  • 9 countries: Have an electoral college but only use it to elect their heads of state (little power, largely a ceremonial position). Elect their executive leaders (real power) using the vote, NOT using the electoral college.
  • 1 country: Has an electoral college and uses it to elect its executive leader (real power). Yes, America is this lone, stupid country.

What makes it even worse is that the Electoral College is not fair. It’s not proportional representation. Wyoming has 584,000 people and 3 electoral votes. That’s about one electoral vote for every 200,000 people. California has 38.8 million people and 55 electoral votes, which is about one electoral vote for every 700,000 people. So voters in Wyoming get more than three times as much say in our election compared to voters in California!

And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse…wait there’s more! The Electoral college has racists origins in perpetuating slavery in America. Yes, my friends, it just got worse. In 1787, as our Constitution was being drafted, only whites were allowed to vote. Northern states had a larger population of white people than southern states. Northern states were also opposed to slavery. Politicians from the southern states realized this, and realized that if the Northerners gained control of the presidency, it would be easier for the North to abolish slavery. Southerners said to themselves: “We don’t want our black slaves to be able to vote, of course, but how can we use them to win the presidency?” So the Southerners, led by James Madison, proposed the idea of an Electoral College–a system that counted the southern slaves in determining how many electoral votes the south received. So even though Northern whites outnumbered Southern whites, by creating an imaginary “electoral college” and counting southern slaves in that made-up

Montpellier slave quarters

The reconstructed slave quarters where some of President James Madison’s hundreds of slaves lived.   Photo by Steve Helber, Associated Press.

system, (but not actually letting slaves vote, of course), the South would be suddenly be competitive in presidential elections. The Electoral College idea was approved and the rest is history. It should be noted that Electoral College champion James Madison–who would later be elected president–personally “owned hundreds of slaves during his lifetime” and kept them enslaved on his 5,000 acre planation in Montepelier.

Yes, we need to abolish the electoral college and we need to do it now! We need to start electing our president (our executive leader) the way every other country on earth does it: based on the frickin’ vote! Think of how different our world and our country would be if instead of eight years of George W. Bush (war, economic collapse, war, tax cuts for rich, war) and now four years of Trump, we had eight years of Gore and 4 years of Hillary. God only knows how much better our world would be.

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Factor 2: Bad Polling. Really Bad.

The polling was completely wrong. Totally wrong. The day before the election, most forecast sites had Hillary at a greater than 90% chance of winning. One gambling website in Ireland called PaddyPower actually paid out $1 million for a Hillary win before the election! Princeton Election Consortium had her at greater than 99%. Everyone expected her to win, including the Trump team, which is why Trump kept saying that that the election was rigged (so that he’d have an excuse after he lost). These false predictions caused Hillary supporters and Hillary’s campaign to become overconfident and underestimate her opponent. Many people that would have turned out on election day to vote for Hillary, or would have campaigned for her didn’t because they thought she had it locked up. Many people that hated Trump but didn’t like Hillary stayed home or voted for a third party candidate because they were sure that Trump would lose. He did, after all, have a 99% chance of losing according to the brilliant folks at Princeton.

The poor polling also caused Hillary to not spend enough time in states that she erroneously thought she had locked up but desperately needed to win, like Pennsylvania, and instead spend time and energy trying to win “nice-to-have” states like Arizona .

It still shocks me that the polls were that far off. Perhaps political science should be called political art because if you are that completely wrong, perhaps you don’t deserve to call what you do “science”. I mean, if your weather forecaster says there is a 99% chance of snow tomorrow and you wake up and see it’s a sunny and 80 degrees, you might question whether he deserves to call himself a meteorologist.

Why were the predictions so wrong? Because the predictions relied almost completely on the polls and the polls were wrong. And so that leads to the question: why were the polls so wrong? Because conservative voters lied. They said: “I’m voting for Hillary” or “I’m voting for a 3rd party candidate” and then they walked into that booth and voted for Trump. Even in the exit polls, many continued to lie about who they had actually voted for.

So that leads to the next question: Why did they lie to pollsters? They lied because they knew they were supporting a candidate that is racist, sexist, and completely unqualified and they (rightfully) felt ashamed about that. They lied because they didn’t want their retrograde views of America to be known to the world. They lied because if they DIDN’T lie, they risked being insulted or ridiculed by friends and family and co-workers.

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Factor 3: The Media

Media Polarization:  American no longer get both sides of the stories. In the past, media outlets were mandated by law to report on both sides of every story fairly. Yes, mandated by law. It was called the Fairness Doctrine and it was administered and enforced by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). (Click on the link in the sources to learn more about it.) The Fairness Doctrine mandated that radio and news outlets did two things:

  1. Cover major news stories of public interest
  2. Present both sides of those stories

Then Ronald Reagan came along, and in 1985, he got rid of the Fairness Doctrine, because you know, who wants unbiased media?  And so that led to the birth and rapid growth of right-wing radio, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News (launched in 1996), and the like. For the first time, Americans could get only ONE side of the story, all the time. This was the turning point in America. This was when the true brainwashing of the conservative element of American began. And it continues to this day. Fox News is today the most watched news station. In fact, it’s been the #1 cable news for years and it’s not even close! CNN is a distant second. (check out the sources for the numbers) Think about how sad that is: the news channel that is BY FAR the most distorted and biased is the one that Americans watch the most. And we wonder why Donald Trump is president!

It’s very rare to find someone that watches both Fox News and MSNBC.  Most conservatives get their news exclusively from Fox/right-wing radio, and most liberals get their news from everywhere else excluding Fox/right-wing radio.  So America is divided in two and each half never sees the news of the other half. This is a major problem. For example, did you know that on New Years Eve 2015/2016, over 1,200 women were groped, raped, robbed, and/or sexually assaulted in at least six cities in Germany by roving gangs of immigrant Muslim men? Never heard of that? Most liberal media outlets like MSNBC did not cover that story. Fox News and conservative sites covered it extensively for weeks. This is why Liberals do not understand why Conservatives are so concerned about Muslim immigration and Islamic terrorism: they are consuming completely different news. And yes, those sexual assaults by Muslim immigrants did indeed happen, and not just in Germany but also Sweden, Austria, and other European countries. There were 2,000 Muslim immigrants involved in the German mass sexual assaults, many of those Muslim men were refugees and asylum seekers. (Sadly, almost no arrests have been made.) You didn’t see it on CNN or MSNBC, but this did indeed happen. Here are some of the news reports.

False Equivalencies Unfair to Hillary: Frankly, Hillary got screwed by the media. I can’t tell you how many times I read a story that said something like: “Donald Trump: he admits to grabbing women by the pussy, but Hillary Clinton once said a mean thing to somebody.” Then the article will debate what Trump did and what Hillary did as if they are equivalent. I believe the unfair coverage was rooted in sexism, but we’ll explore that more at a later time.

Free Coverage for Trump: Donald Trump was a candidate that the media loves to cover. He’s continually provocative and entertaining, which is good for media because Free Media for Trumpmore eyeballs mean more advertisers which means more money. So the media covered him day and night. According to the New York Times, it’s estimated that Donald Trump’s presidential campaign received $2 billion of free coverage. All that free coverage helped to get people energized and supportive of the candidate, acclimated to his antics, and probably even helped to get out the vote on his behalf.

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Factor 4: Russian Interference, Meddling, and Voter Suppression

Russia hacked our election. How much damage they did exactly, we may never know, but we do know that they created and disseminated fake news stories on Facebook and other websites, hacked into the emails of the Democratic Party, and hacked into at least one voting software company, perhaps many more. These things may have certainly influenced the election, especially one as close as this election.

James Comey, former head of the FBI, decided to hold a press conference to announce Comey Cratered Hillary Leadthat he was opening an investigation into Hillary Clinton just a few days before the election. Comey’s unprecedented and completely unnecessary move certainly hurt Hillary’s chances of winning. According the statistical analysis webiste FiveThirtyEight.com, ” In the average swing state, Clinton’s lead declined from 4.5 percentage points at the start of Oct. 28 to just 1.7 percentage points on Nov. 4.”

Hillary Clinton herself has said that she believes that she lost the election because of two things: Russian Hacking, and James Comey’s untimely and unnecessary declaration. “I was on the way to winning until the combination of Jim Comey’s letter on October 28 and Russian WikiLeaks raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off — and the evidence for that intervening event is, I think, compelling [and] persuasive,” Clinton said.”

But Clinton was up against forces even bigger than Comey and the Russions–Voter Suppression. Clinton lost

 

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PART III of IV: The Four Reasons People Voted for Trump

Everyone that voted for Trump voted for him because of one or more of these reasons

Reason 1: Charisma and Communication

Donald Trump is one of the best politicians we have ever seen and that we will ever see. I know that many people don’t like to hear that. But we must give the devil his due. Denial is not an effective strategy for learning from history.  Great politicians posses the following qualities: charisma; ability to communicate clearly and persuasively; skillful political maneuvering; knowledge/experience in politics.  Charisma and Communication skills are–without a doubt–the most important qualities for a candidate to possess to get votes. There are other qualities too, of course, (like integrity, perseverance, negotiation skills, etc.) that matter once you’re in office. But if you’re not charismatic and persuasive, you won’t even be elected. Trump is one of the most charismatic politicians I’ve ever seen. Like Obama, he’s funny, he’s comfortable in his skin, and he’s “cool”. When he speaks, you can’t help but listen. He is immensely compelling as a speaker, even if you disagree with him.  His body language and hand gesticulations are “alpha-male”–qualities that voters subconsciously like. This isn’t just my opinion. Body language experts agree with me.

“When it comes to body language, nobody does it better,” says David Givens, director of the Center for Nonverbal Studies in Spokane, Washington. “He just neutralizes the opposition.” While Trump’s opponents appear to be “wooden,” Givens says , Trump is “exceptional” at communicating with his body.  Check out the video below where body language expert Janine Driver analyzes him and compares him to other presidential candidates.

“Nobody has done it this well since John F. Kennedy. Or Mussolini,” Givens says, referring to the founder of Fascism, who ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943.

The message Trump communicates is that he’s the alpha male and a force to be reckoned with, says Nick Morgan, a communication expert and author of “Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others and Maximizing Your Personal Impact.”

His facial expressions are very expressive and captivating. He has a commanding presence on a stage and he knows how to handle himself in front of a camera. You don’t have to agree with Trump’s rhetoric to recognize those things. And if you don’t think this stuff matters, you simply don’t understand the power of effective communication.

Hillary Clinton on the other hand is almost completely lacking in charisma. Her speeches are neither captivating nor memorable, her body language and gesticulations are not commanding, her facial expressions are unremarkable. She doesn’t know how to pause or alter the pitch and tone of her voice for dramatic effect. Trump has those things down pat. Before you say that I’m not giving Hillary credit on those points simply because she’s a woman, please take note of Elizabeth Warren. Elizabeth Warren is compelling and persuasive and possesses communication skills almost on par with Trump.  I am a card-carrying Hillary supporter (not a Bernie supporter) but those are simply undeniable facts. As a student of body language, I love to watch Donald Trump because he is truly a master in a league of his own.

Why aren’t Intelligence or Integrity or Education or Experience the qualities that are most important to voters? I don’t know. In this essay, I am describing the world as it is, NOT as I want it to be. If we wish to learn from history, we must analyze and adapt to the real world, not our fantasy utopia.

Someone described Hillary as the class president and Donald as the class clown. The class clown is funny and charismatic but unqualified to be class president. The class president is smart and competent but not as charismatic. Americans value charisma over competence and that is a real shame, but it is what it is. That’s one of the things we need to change in this country, but more on that in part 3. Sadly in this election, Americans made a worse decision than most high schoolers–electing the class clown as class president.

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Reason 2: Concerns about Immigration

Look at the exit polling below. Notice that among those people that said “The Economy is the most important issue to me,” only 42% voted for Trump (red color) and 52% voted for Hillary (blue color). People that REALLY cared about the economy voted Hillary! Economic issues are NOT what motivated people to vote for Trump. Look at the same chart below. See that really long red line at 64%? Yes, it’s for immigration, which brings me to my point…

Exit Polls by Issues- NYTimes

Graphic from NY Times. Link in Sources below

Among voters that said: “Immigration is the most important issue to me,” 64% voted for Trump. For those that cared most about terrorism, 57% voted for Trump. Terrorism and Immigration are related issues, of course, because many voters feel that increased immigration from Muslim countries has led to more terrorism in the US and abroad.

As mentioned in Reason #4, The Media, we discussed how increased immigration to Europe has led to mass sexual assaults carried out by Muslim immigrants in Germany, Sweden, and other countries.  For example, in Sweden, in July of 2016, there were over 40 reports of rape, groping, and other sexual assault by immigrant gangs at two music festivals. These attacks by gangs of recent immigrants have propelled far-right wing nationalist parties to popularity and leadership in Europe.

From the UK newspaper, The Spectator:

“The German police made a similar point: they are used to handling drunks. But gangs of young men encircling and then groping women at large public gatherings: who has ever heard of such a thing? In the Arab world, it’s something of a phenomenon. It has a name: ‘Taharrush gamea’. Sometimes the girls are teased and have their veils torn off by gangs of young men; sometimes it escalates into rape. Five years ago, this form of attack was the subject of an award-winning Egyptian film, 678. Instances of young men surrounding and attacking girls were reported throughout the Arab Spring protests in Cairo in 2011 and 2012. Lara Logan, a CNN journalist covering the fall of Hosni Mubarak, was raped in Tahrir Square. Taharrush gamea is a modern evil, and it’s being imported into Europe. Our authorities ought to be aware of it.”

And it’s not just that people have concerns about immigration. It’s that those concerns have not even been addressed. And when people bring up the concerns, they are accused of being racist. Aside from Fox News watchers, most Americans are simply unaware of the mass sexual assaults that have been happening in Europe and that are endemic to the Middle East. And so when conservatives express concern about immigration from Muslim countries, they are reflexively accused of Islamophobia by the liberals and no thoughtful, honest debate is allowed to occur. And so people say nothing, then walk into the voting booth, pull the curtain, and vote for Donald Trump, or whomever they feel will take their concerns seriously and keep them safe.

Fears of immigrant-imported violence are rising in the USA over immigration not just from Muslim countries, but also from Latin America. For example, Mara Salvatrucha, or better known as MS-13, is an extremely violent gang that regularly tortures and mutilates its victims with machetes (often teenagers) before killing them.  The gang is composed of primarily recent Latino immigrants or the children of those immigrants. The gang’s slogan is “Mata, Viola, Controla” which means “Kill, Rape, Control”. The gang, which was founded by immigrants from El Salvador, terrorizes people across the USA, including in neighborhoods just a few miles from the White House.

damarisreyesrivas

15 year old Damaris Reyes Rivas was tortured, then killed by MS-13 members in Gaithersburg, Maryland in February 2017. The gang members recorded her killing on cell phones including the moments when she was repeatedly stabbed in the throat with a stick.

But it’s not just immigrant-imported violence that people are afraid of. They’re also worried about losing their jobs to immigrants.

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Reason 3: Sexism – Whoever Heard of a Woman President?

Many men refused to vote for Hillary Clinton simply because she is a woman. These men would always give other reasons in public (Bengazhi, email scandal, “her voice is too shrill”,  the economy, etc.) but in private when no women were around, they would admit: “I don’t want to be ruled by a woman” or “I don’t trust women with power” or “I don’t like Trump but I’m voting for him because he’s a man.” Women rarely hear men say that out loud, but trust me, that’s what many men say when women leave the room. The odd thing is that it doesn’t work both ways. Women, when they are alone, do NOT say amongst themselves: “I’m voting for Hillary just because she’s a woman.” Nope. They might say, “I’m voting for her because she’s the best-qualified candidate” but you won’t hear a woman say (even in private) that she would vote for candidate X simply because candidate X is female. Men posses incredible gender affinity. Men want to see a man in power, no matter how spectacularly unqualified that man is. Women possess no such gender affinity. Instead, to describe why they wouldn’t vote for Hillary, women said: “I want to see a woman president, but just not this particular woman.” or “I want to see a female president but she has to share my values, and have all the right qualifications and blah blah blah.” Men say: “He’s got a dick? He’s got my vote!” 53% of white women voted for Trump, the candidate that said “I grab ’em by the pussy.” 53%. Why do men posses such strong gender affinity but not women? I believe the difference is rooted in differences evolved from prehistoric hunter-gather days. Hunting is a necessarily group activity (unless you have guns which obviously did not exist) if you wish to succeed, and so men hunted in groups. Gathering on the other hand is a largely solitary activity that does not require others. In fact, if someone else is gathering in your vicinity, it means they are more likely to gather resources that you would have collected had you been alone. So over thousands of years, the hunter-gatherer dichotomy led to the development of different traits in men and women. I’ll expand on this theory in a future post.

Many people are often surprised to learn that women are often sexist against other women, or that Blacks are often discriminatory against other Blacks, but this is indeed the case. Multiple studies shows that when identical resumes have male vs. female names, the female job candidates receive lower competency scores and are less likely to get the job than the male candidates (again, with the IDENTICAL resumes). Here’s the surprising thing: It’s not just men that rate the female resumes lower, women also rate the female resumes lower.

 

Reason 4: Racism  – Make America White Again

First based on the exit polling, let’s figure out exactly who voted for Trump. We’ll begin by looking at who did NOT vote for Trump:

  • Black people did not vote for Trump. 88% of Blacks voted for Hillary.
  • Hispanics did not vote for Trump. 65% of Hispanics voted for Hillary.
  • Asians did not vote for Trump. 65% of Asians voted for Hillary.

If only brown people were allowed to vote, Hillary would have won in a landslide of epic proportions. But even if one or more of those groups had voted in the majority for Trump, it wouldn’t have made any difference because 72% of the American population is white (and 70% of voters), so overwhelming white that it really doesn’t make much of a difference how any minority group votes. Note that in 2016, minorities overwhelmingly voted for Hillary and she still lost!  So if black and brown people didn’t elect Trump who did? Answer: Donald Trump is our president because 58% of White people in America voted for him.

Exit Polls by Race 2- NYTimesOk, so we’ve established that Donald Trump won the election because most White people (58% to be precise) voted for him. No other racial group voted for Donald Trump above 37%. Ok, so now let’s address WHY people, and specifically white people, voted for him.

The election of Donald Trump is white America’s violent reaction to the election of the first black president. If you’re reading this, you’re probably a liberal. Remember how you felt on election night when you realized that Trump had beat Hillary? Stunned? Dismayed? Questioning your place in the universe?  That’s how about half of the white people in America felt in 2008 after a black man and his black wife and his black children entered the White House.

There has always been a rigid racial hierarchy in America: Whites at the top, Asian and brown people in the middle, and blacks at the bottom. Putting a black man in charge turned that hierarchy on its head and scared the living bejeezes out of many white people. The social order had been disrupted. In reaction, the Tea Party was formed. Hate group membership skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. But it wasn’t enough. The ultimate symbol of white power- a white Commander-in-Chief – absolutely positively needed to be restored.  But not any white man would do. The requirement was a white man who would send a clear message that “we (white peopele) are back and we (white people) are still in charge and we (white people) intend to stay in charge.”  And so the election of a white man officially endorsed by David Duke, the Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis restores that social hierarchy and re-establishes white people at the top of the pyramid.

Many whites voted for Trump because seeing a white man back in the white house makes many them feel good about themselves. That’s largely why 63% of white males votes for Donald Trump.  The reinstitution of white male leadership in America makes white males feel good about themselves. Full stop.

The elevation of a black man to power in America in 2008 (Obama election) scared many white people and led to: 1. the instant creation of the Tea Party, 2. a significant increase in hate crimes, and 3. the rise of Donald Trump as a political power (via his birther nonsense). Obama’s election and the changing demograhics of America (more brown people, more immigrants) made many white people very afraid. Donald Trump–the candidate officially endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan– channeled that fear and rode the wave to the presidency.

Because of immigration and higher birth rates among minorities, the percentage of the population that is white has been steadily falling for decades.  That seriously bothers many white people.  Make America Great Again really means Make America White Again. Trump’s slogan was enormously successful because they know what it really means and there is an incredibly strong desire among Whites to make America what it used to be: Whiter.

Trump Rally Voter Photo Mark Ralston, AFPGetty Images

This man knows what “Make America Great Again” really means.   Photo: Mark Ralston, AFP/Getty Images

I am not the first person to say this. Toni Morrison has written a brilliant essay on the topic (see sources below) and writes: “...in America today, post-civil-rights legislation, white people’s conviction of their natural superiority is being lost. Rapidly lost. There are “people of color” everywhere, threatening to erase this long-understood definition of America. And what then? Another black President? A predominantly black Senate? Three black Supreme Court Justices? The threat is frightening.”

 

 

This is surprising to some, but it happens because racism and sexism are the products of societal structures and cultural institutions that have been in places for centuries, and that infiltrate every aspect of our lives from birth to death. In other words, if you grow up in America, you will, by default, be subjected to conscious and subconscious programming that makes you see women and people of color as “less than”. This is also true in most countries in the world. This programming begins at birth and is evident even in toddlers. If you don’t believe this is true, watch this video which shows young children of different races categorizing black dolls as “bad,” “ugly,” and “dumb,” and white dolls as “good,” “pretty,” and “smart.” These very young children have already cemented racist beliefs because the societal programming began the moment they left the womb and that programming is essentially inescapable unless you live on a deserted island in the middle of the ocean.

Gender bias is also cemented at an early age. A recent article from NPR describes how young girls are less likely than boys to say that their own gender is “really smart.” Even at a very young age, these girls have already been indoctrinated to believe that men are more intelligent and capable than they are. Sad indeed, but we must acknowledge and understand the world in which we live if we have any hope of changing the world.

White people are 72% of the US population. What that means is that white people decide who becomes president. If white people don’t vote for you, you will NOT be president. Half of those white people are men, and half are women. So if you want to be president, you really need lots of white men AND white women to vote for you. So let’s talk about how white people voted. 63% of white men voted for Trump. Not surprising. What is surprising is that 53% of white women voted for Trump. That’s right, MOST white women voted for Trump! Think about that. White women had the opportunity to elect the first female president in American history, an immensely qualified woman, a Yale-educated lawyer, a former Senator, a former Secretary of State,…OR to elect a completely unqualified man who has been accused of sexual assault by 14 different women, and said on tape that he grabs women “by the pussy” whenever he feels like it. And who did most white women vote for? The pussy grabber. Think about that. It’s unfortunate that white men would vote for Trump but you can kind of understand it. It’s self-serving male chauvinism and misogyny. But why on earth would white women vote for him over who could have been the first female president?! I think we can learn a lot by noting some other statistics: 93% of black women voted for Hillary. Isn’t that interesting. Why the HUGE disparity between how black women and white women voted? It comes down to how women see themselves. Basically, it’s a manifestation of the power of race in this country. Black women see themselves as black first, women second. White women see themselves as white first, women second. Donald Trump, the candidate officially endorsed by the KKK and David Duke, was clearly not a desireable option for most black women. Millions of white women have bigoted views of minorities, and these particular white women looked at Donald Trump and saw a misogynist, but because they see themselves as women SECOND, his misogyny was forgiveable because his racial views were desireable to them. In other words, his racism trumped his misogyny.

Another way of looking at this is: White women said of Trump (internally of course, they would never say this out loud): “Trump obviously doesn’t like blacks or Hispanics, but I’m white, so my white skin and my white privilege will protect me. Trump also doesn’t like women, and that bothers me. So I have a choice: I can ally with whiteness, or I can ally with womanhood. In America, whiteness has more power than womanhood, therefore I will ally with whiteness.” And so 53% of white women voted Trump.

For most white women, when they look in the mirror, they see a white person first, and a woman second. Black women, similarly identify themselves by their race first, and by their gender second. But here’s the interesting thing: Men, of all races, see themselves as men first, and as their race second. When a white/black/latino/asian man looks in the mirror, the first thing he sees is a man, and the second thing he sees is his race. As a result of this, or perhaps because of this, men possess an incredibly durable and powerful gender affinity that women do not. Men will support other men over women in almost every case. Need evidence of this? Look no further than US history. White men have been running this country since they stepped off the Mayflower and began exterminating the native population, and they have shared their power most reluctantly. The ability to vote is an incredible power. White men gave black men the power to vote in 1870 with the passage of the 15th Amendment to the US Constitution. They have gave white women to right to vote in….wait for it…1920. Yes, fifty years later with the passage of the 19th Amendment. Think about that. White men gave the black men that they had previously enslaved, that they still called “nigger” and “boy”, the right to vote before they gave their own wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters the right to vote. Think about that.

In 2008, America elected its first black (male) president. America elected its first female president in….ah yes, still waiting.

In 1990, Peruvians elected as President, Alberto Fujimori, a Peruvian of Japanese

AlbertoKenyaFujimori

Alberto Fujimori, 1999. Photo from Wikipedia, Creative Commons, Gobierno Peruano

descent. About 1% of the population of Peru is of Japanese descent. 50% of Peru’s population is female. Many female politicians in Peru have run for president and lost, including Fujimori’s daughter. Peruvians were willing to elect and re-elect a Japanese man, but not a Peruvian woman.  Still today, in 2017, Peru has never had a female president. And neither has the United States.

The 53% of white women that voted for Trump see their Whiteness as more powerful and unifying than their femaleness, and so they prioritized whiteness and cast their ballot for the misogynist-in-chief. But white men see things differently–they view Maleness as more powerful and unifying than Whiteness. But of course, those white men (unlike white women) didn’t have to make any trade-offs or Faustian bargains because Donald Trump is white AND male.

Sources:

 

Political analysts keep mentioning “economic anxiety” as the cause of Trump’s election. Rural white voters do NOT expect that Trump will really help them. But they know that they will feel better about themselves as white people (in a nation that is becoming too diverse for their comfort) if he is elected. He was elected, and they feel better. Four years from now if they are still unemployed, they will vote AGAIN to put Trump back in for another 4 years. Because it’s not about jobs, it’s about how having Trump as president MAKES THEM FEEL.  Having a white man back in power restores their feelings of status and power. Balance is restored to the white universe.

So in terms of WHY people voted from Trump, the first reason is about FEELING, and the second reason is about DOING, specifically what they believe Trump will do to limit immigration and reduce the threat of terrorism.

This may sound shocking, but some of the biggest supporters of Trump’s immigration stance are… immigrants. Many people that immigrated here legally feel that other people around the world should do the same thing: follow the legal process, not take a short cut or break the law.  Another group of surprising Trump supporters are…Muslims. Yes, some Muslims support Trump. The Guardian wrote a fascinating article about the “Secret Trump Voters.” It is essential reading to fully understand this election so please check it out in the sources below.  The article quotes a gay Arab Muslim 20-year old man: “For all his bombastic remarks, Trump will not attack innocent Muslim countries. Ironically enough, he may be the best thing for moderate average Muslims. He isn’t our enemy, he is the enemy of the globalist Wahhabi cult that has propagated mass violence and murder through out the world.”  You might know this Muslim man. He will never tell you he voted for Trump. He is one of the millions of secret Trump voters.

The economy, Obamacare, Hillary’s emails–all were secondary issues and justifications.  Ask Trump supporters if they think a wall will actually get built and they will say no. Trump saying that he is going to building a wall with Mexico was a proxy for doing something tangible to stop immigration and Islamic terrorism.  They want someone in office who’s going to actually do something, instead of simply TALK about doing something, which is what other politicians do. Ask Trump voters in West Virginia if they they think Trump will REALLY bring back coal jobs and they’ll tell you “No.” These people may be uneducated, but they are not stupid. They voted for The Donald for one of the two reason I listed above, but they tell the media the politically correct answer: “He will bring back coal jobs.”

What voters did NOT care about: Hillary’s supposed lies, Donald’s business track record, etc. In fact, I never quite understood why the Hillary campaign kept fixating on the fact that many of Donald Trump’s businesses had failed, or that he had gone bankrupt. The man is a billionaire! When someone is a billionaire, no one cares how many of their businesses failed or how many times he went bankrupt, people will consider any billionaire to be a successful businessman simply because he is a billionaire. So trying to discredit Trump’s business skills was a huge waste of time and resources and a strategic mistake.

What could Hillary have done to win? Two things: Address the 2 reasons that people voted for Trump. Reason number 1: How he made white people, and especially white men feel about themselves. Really not much that Hillary could have done here even if she wanted to, because she is a liberal white female and Donald Trump will always win in this arena. Reason number 2–immigration and Islamic terrorism– however is something that Hillary could have addressed. If Hillary had come out stronger in this area I think she could have beaten Trump.

Sources:

 

PART IV: WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO FIX THIS

I honestly believe that Donald Trump’s election will be a good thing for America. Liberal white Americans that have continually denied or ignored racism in society are now waking up and having to face the fact that the majority of White Americans voted for the candidate officially endorsed by the KKK. Millions of women that viewed the feminist cause as an annoyance are now realizing that they live in a country where a man can admit to grabbing women by the pussy, be accused of sexually assaulting 12 women, and still become president. Women are now waking up and realizing how powerful and pervasive misogyny is in America.  Trump’s election is a wake-up call and I think millions of people have finally woken up.  Some good things will come of this.

So the question is: Can Democrats win in 2020? Answer: Yes. How? Well, it’s not rocket science. We need a few things:

  • Electoral College Reform. Hillary Clinton won the vote and should be president. We need to modify or get rid of the electoral college. There are already movements underway such as here: http://www.nationalpopularvote.com/
  • Restore the FCC’s Fairness Doctrine. We desperately need balanced media again. When Americans are able to hear BOTH sides of every story, there will be less polarization in society and it will be harder for Fox News to lie indiscriminately, meaning it will be harder for extreme right-wing candidates like Trump to gain political traction.
  • Stop the Russian Hacking. Obama sanctioned the Russians for their hacking but the punishment did not fit the crime and much more punishment needs to be meted out. We also need to improve our national and local cyber security.
  • Stop Voter Suppression and Gerrymandering.  Explicit, outright, measurable, and proven voter suppression caused Hillary Clinton to lose Wisconsin to Donald Trump by a very slim margin. Without Wisconsin, Trump loses the Electoral College. Voter Suppression cost Clinton the election.
  • Charisma Matters. The Democratic party needs to put forward candidates that can win, which means candidates that have charisma, communication skills, good body language, etc. People like Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker.  We must learn from the past. And candidates like Joe Lieberman and Hillary Clinton need to recognize their weakness in this area and get coaching.
  • Don’t Believe the Polls. We now know that polls can be wrong. Terribly wrong. This is a lesson that every voter must learn. Even if the polls guarantee victory, you must get out and vote for your candidate because polls can be very wrong.
  • Read/Watch news from the other side of the political spectrum. If you’re a liberal, watch Fox News and read the headlines at conservative site Drudge Report. If you’re a conservative, watch MSNBC and read the Washington Post. I know, it’s painful, but it’s necessary. Liberals have no idea of the very real problems (such as multiple instances of mass sexual assaults) that Muslim immigration has brought to Europe. Conservatives have no idea of the number of unarmed black men killed at the hands of police in the USA. Until the Fairness Doctrine is re-instated we must get balanced news ourselves.
  • Fight Racism and Sexism. This one is way more difficult than the others, but it is also more vital. Obama did NOT bring America into some post-racial, color-blind utopia. Quite to the contrary, his election re-awakened racist factions that had laid dormant and then emerged fully during the Trump campaign. Racism is still alive. Hillary Clinton was the most qualified candidate in history but she couldn’t beat a vulgar reality TV star who never held public office. Sexism is still alive. Support the NAACP, Southern Poverty Law Center, ACLU, and Emily’s List.
  • Take Action! Get out there and vote. Encourage others to vote. Donate to political campaigns. Volunteer for political campaigns. Run for office. Call/write to your elected officials. Join protests. Do something! Do everything you can!

 

Looks at the photos below. Don’t let this happen again. If we don’t learn from the past, it will be repeated.

Campaign Headquarters

Left photo by Win McNamee /Getty Images. Right photo by Chip Somodevilla/ Getty Images.

Thank you for reading! Please share with others.

 

 

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