Trumped!

Many folks talked about the possibility of an October surprise prior to our recent presidential election.  Rumors swirled of an FBI bombshell, more WikiLeaks or a Russian hack attack.  The predictors were off by a month.  We received instead a November surprise that many view as apocalyptic.  The nation was shocked, as were the candidates, despite Trump’s minions’ confident public exhortations of victory.  How did the press and the punditocracy get it all wrong?   Even days prior to the election, many pollsters were placing Clinton’s chances of victory in the 75-90% range. 

An Unexpected Guest

We are beginning to understand how a man who has never held elective office, who by all accounts is a boorish and vulgar narcissist, could vanquish 17 Republican adversaries to gain the nomination and then handily trounce the Clinton political machine on November 8th.   The brash outsider prevailed over the consummate insider.  We are beginning to understand why his unending stream of deeply offensive rhetoric and behavior, which would have doomed an ordinary candidate, seemed only to burnish his street cred and approval ratings.  

The answer is not pretty.

Both parties have been arrogant, hypocritical and corrupt as they ignored or chose not to be attentive to so many of their constituents.  Look at politicians' approval ratings in either party.  I think the electorate reached a tipping point.  Can you believe that Bernie Sanders, a cranky 74-yr-old annoying socialist nearly beat the Clinton machine?  (And he might have prevailed if the Democratic National Committee wasn't conspiring against him and he wasn't the victim of an unfair superdelegate system.)  Weren't you as amazed as I was that young people in their 20's favored crazy Uncle Bernie over Hillary?  What was she missing?  

Same issue with Trump who performed the political equivalent of scaling Mount Everest barefoot.  There was a level of disgust and a hunger for change that both parties missed or didn't care about.   Trump voters despised and distrusted the political establishment so much, that his horrendous personal behavior was irrelevant.  He was change, and that's all that mattered.  This is why, I think, that all of those comments that would have sunk any ordinary candidate didn't adversely affect him.

I hope and pray that good will emerge from this.  Both political parties - and perhaps some new ones - will realign and recalibrate and hopefully reach out to the tens of millions of people who deserve to be represented and valued. 

Yes, I know that many feel that they are in mourning now.  Let's hope that he surprises everyone and surrounds himself with wisdom and that he will govern differently than he campaigned. 

For those who suspect that I am a Trump apologist, try again.  I didn’t vote for him.  But, he is my president now, and he’s yours also.

The Republic will survive.   Yes, he will have to be held to his campaign promises, understanding that in every case, it's a lot easier to campaign than it is to govern.  Remember President Obama’s promise to close GITMO in a year?

Finally, let’s celebrate that we can witness a peaceful transfer of power every four years.  We take this for granted, but we shoudn't.  Wanna trade our system for the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, China or Russia?