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Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
Think what you want. But large numbers of Americans who disapproved of and disliked Trump voted for him. I know for some people that's hard to get their head around. If it helps, think of it as voting John Scott into the all-star game in order to express your contempt for the NHL brass and its all-star voting system.
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This is a perfect example of what happens when you let people who don't understand how the system works participate in the system or cover it as a journalist. You, and the incompetent mass media, have made this result sound like some kind of protest vote. It wasn't. For a protest vote see Canadian federal election, 1993, and Alberta provincial election, 2015. Very little changed in this election other than Trump got elected. Only 16 incumbents lost their seats in congress. That is not a protest vote. If this were a protest vote there would have been 200 new representatives heading to Washington. This result was based on bad information and even worse journalism, which is exactly what the power brokers want. Think about it. How many power brokers in Washington were affected by this vote?
If the mass media were honest they would do some introspection and realize they made this election a contest based on the cult of personality. They were the ones who refused to vet Trump in the traditional manner. They were the ones that allowed him to thumb his nose at tradition. They were the ones that allowed the newshole to be dominated by the Great Pumpkin and allow him to frame the terms being used. I think there were three watershed moments in this election and they were all amplified by the mass media in ways they should not have been. I think Trump's taxes, the Trump sexual assault admission, and the Russian hacking were three issues the media completely mishandled. Two should have forced Trump to drop out of the race; a traditional candidate would have been finished because of it. The Russian hacking was an issue the media had a lot of information on going into the summer but they never really pursued it the way they should have. They should also take a kick in the nuts on the FBI thing, as it was just terrible journalism and the issues of and for the release were never fully investigated and communicated to the masses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CliffFletcher
The fact he wasn't a career politician and he might shake things up (when there was a 0 per cent chance Clinton would shake things up) pretty much trumped every other consideration for a lot of voters. And I'd be willing to bet whoever replaces him as president will be a Washington outsider as well. A business tycoon, entertainment celebrity, whatever. Might even be a third-party candidate.
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I'd take that bet. Trump is going to be such a massive failure that he is going to kill the public trust in third party candidates for decades to come. He is also going to send a message to the parties to make sure they completely crush upstarts early and don't give them a sniff of life. The American political system is setup as a two party system for a reason. They are not going to let anyone else horn in on their action and screw up the gravy train.