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Donald Trump is the president-elect of the U.S.

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Donald Trump is the president-elect of the U.S.

#51
Such a watershed moment. A few things strike me:

* A Republican just won without being very religious and being wishy-washy on abortion.

* The loser out-spent the winner by huge amounts. Does money really buy elections? Maybe, but not this one.

* The rich abandoned Republicans, but many poor and working-class abandoned Democrats. [1]

1: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/11/08/us/elections/e...

Re: Donald Trump is the president-elect of the U.S.

#52
This is utter madness. If we're lucky, this wheels fall off this whole enterprise and these people are discredited before they do too much harm.

It's deeply frustrating to hear so much crap analysis of what's been going on. If we're really honest with ourselves about what's happening, we're seeing a massive vote for protectionism of a particular demographics that have long enjoyed it.

People talk a lot about the forgotten white working class voter. And while that's a real thing, that's only half the story. The Trump voters are on the whole wealthier than the Clinton voters. That means there are a whole bunch of people with real money who've decided they can stomach the open bigotry of Trump's campaign because they think ultimately his policies are what they want. That's why the incumbents of the GOP largely never fled his side, no matter how obscene his personal conduct.

To be really blunt, Trump's entire track record says "if you're white and wealthy, I've obviously got your back", and his words have said, "if you're white and struggling, it's brown people who stand in your way". In that way, he's managed to get an extremely energetic white vote.

This election will be forever remembered for just how lurid it has been. From the very beginning of the Republican primary, it's been Trump who continually lowered the bar. God help us all if we do in fact end up with literally the least qualified Commander in Chief of American history. Going to sleep now, deeply discouraged.

Re: Donald Trump is the president-elect of the U.S.

#53
post #5

Peter Thiel is not looking so foolish right now...

I don't know why anyone would think he is foolish. Listening to his speech at the National Press Club a few days ago it's hard to find many things to disagree with https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob-LJqPQEJ4

Re: Donald Trump is the president-elect of the U.S.

#54
post #26

bear in mind this paper is now owned by jeff bezos, and the actual results are still not in yet edit: bozos -> bezos

It's been basically a done deal for about two hours now. AP, CNN, NBC, etc. have all called different states at different times, but there's really no doubt about where the rest of this is going to fall.

Re: Donald Trump is the president-elect of the U.S.

#55
Call Trump what you will, but he played the media like Hendrix. They took the troll-bait and reported every outrageous soundbite gleefully, all in pursuit of a few clicks and ad-bucks. Meanwhile, Trump gained more and more of a platform and eventually established a cult of personality.

Re: Donald Trump is the president-elect of the U.S.

#56

Ah well, and his party has house and Senate too. I've been looking through his policies and I'm amazed at how he won. I'm gonna be angry about this for an hour before I give find something else to do.

House and Senate and the Supreme Court...

Re: Donald Trump is the president-elect of the U.S.

#58
post #14

So as a European ... Clinton didn't spend enough time in the Upper Midwest expecting to carry those states, but Trump had an actual message for them (NAFTA, etc.) while Hillary didn't, and they don't care that he is racist and sexist, they want their jobs back, so the election was called by a 40+ white demo in an economically depressed region just like old Middle England called Brexit. About right?

Well, we have Strache, Le Pen, Farage, Wilders, Orban, Petry,... And we sure aren't as economically depressed as rural USA. Worse - we have unstable times ahead and people will vote for these populists even more. And even worse - a climate change denier as POTUS exactly at the worst possible time.

Re: Donald Trump is the president-elect of the U.S.

#59
post #14

So as a European ... Clinton didn't spend enough time in the Upper Midwest expecting to carry those states, but Trump had an actual message for them (NAFTA, etc.) while Hillary didn't, and they don't care that he is racist and sexist, they want their jobs back, so the election was called by a 40+ white demo in an economically depressed region just like old Middle England called Brexit. About right?

Upper Midwest? Wasn't it just a question of Florida and North Carolina?

Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc. are traditionally Democratic states, but it's a region Trump spent a lot of time targeting with anti-globalist messages around the decline of domestic industry.

The predicted safe margin in the other direction, the narrow win, the demographic stats, the issues on the table ... it's all highly reminiscent of how I experienced Brexit.

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