8 ms·

The thing that is really confusing for me is how Trump managed to get elected despite all this opposition to him.

by ufo 10y ago

hogrammer 10y ago
You live in a bubble. I voted for him. And I'm a woman.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
xenadu02 10y ago
The tl;dr is voter apathy in key midwest states. IIRC Trump underperformed but Clinton underperformed even more. It is difficult to say with certainty but the FBI letter probably cost her the election by slightly depressing turnout. It also looks like the Republican effort to disenfranchise people by reducing early voting, voting hours, closing polling stations, enacting voter ID laws, purging voter rolls, etc has worked in the sense that it slightly reduced Dem turnout which was enough in this election. Their efforts to steal elections by gerrymandering themselves into power has also given them outsized control of the House and various state governments. It is really embarrassing that the majority of the country votes D and the Rs have control over the government. It's pure subversion of democracy. Russia certainly tried to influence the election but if it had been Obama running (or anyone charismatic) instead of Clinton it wouldn't have mattered; Trump would have lost by a huge EC margin. I'm far more worried about the long-term damage to the country now that the FBI has once again become an open political weapon, and that Rs are unapologetically disenfranchising people in an attempt to maintain power permanently.
- LyndsySimon 10y ago
  > Russia certainly tried to influence the election but if it had been Obama running (or anyone charismatic) instead of Clinton it wouldn't have mattered; Trump would have lost by a huge EC margin. While I don't agree with a great deal of the rest of your assertions, this stands out to me as the important one. If the Democrats had run almost anyone other than Hillary Clinton, they would have likely won. They ran Hillary Clinton.
  - losteric 10y ago
    The DNC definitely backed the wrong horse in the Clinton vs Sanders primaries.
- hackuser 10y ago
  > the FBI letter probably cost her the election by slightly depressing turnout. Of course it's hard to point to one factor in such a complex, real world situation, But look at a chart of Clinton's poll numbers; she was comfortably ahead, and as soon as Comey's letter came out, her number dropped like a rock and never recovered. > It is really embarrassing that the majority of the country votes D and the Rs have control over the government. Note that the Democrats have won the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 national elections. Other than George W Bush's second election in 2004, the GOP hasn't won a nationwide majority since 1988.
  - michaelchisari 10y ago
    This was such a squeaker of an election, that it seems that any one of the multitude of factors changes, and Hillary wins.
    - hackuser 10y ago
      You could say the same the other way. A rainy day in a major city in a key state and Trump gets a better result.
      - michaelchisari 10y ago
        I'm limiting it to political events centered on the candidates, almost all of which in the near lead-up to the election were focused on Hillary. And the only really close states were PA, MI and WI, all of which went to Trump by a sliver.
LyndsySimon 10y ago
Because 3 million women motivated enough to protest doesn't outweigh 30 million women motivated enough to vote. The fact of the matter is Trump's support base is broader than his opposition - at least, in the states where it matters.
- hackuser 10y ago
  In this case, it bears repeating that Trump lost the overall vote, and lost women's votes 54-41%. The country is a democracy, not an elected dictatorship. Voters and their desires don't disappear the day after the election. Republicans took resistance of Obama's presidency to record levels; only their propagandists can say with a straight face that those who oppose Trump should be quiet for the next four years.
  - LyndsySimon 10y ago
    I don't think anyone expects them to be quiet. > Trump lost the overall vote, and lost women's votes 54-41%. I guess I don't see the point you're trying to make here. The GP asked how Trump got elected. He overwhelmingly won white, Christian, middle-class (and above) families - a group that has felt left out of American politics for the past decade or so.
  - Mao_Zedang 10y ago
    It is also important to point out the overall vote is not important and never has been. It is a way for losers to complain be it republican or democrat, however when you get down to it is symbolic at best.
    - hackuser 10y ago
      Mao may not think popular opinion matters, and maybe he could ignore it in his dictatorship, but it's wrong in the U.S. The President leads a democratic political system, the heart of which is the will of the voters. Those in government need to keep the voters happy or they will lose their jobs; that's the way it was designed and the way it works. It shows the cynicism of the GOP that they would adopt a talking point from Putin, endorse something so undemocratic, and pretend to suddenly forget the unprecedented resistance the engaged in when Obama was President. Also, my point was relevant to the comment I was responding to.
Mao_Zedang 10y ago
He won more electoral votes than Hillary.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
The Dems shot themselves in the foot by running Clinton.

The thing that is really confusing for me is how Trump managed to get elected despite all this opposition to him.

by ufo 10y ago

The thing that is really confusing for me is how Trump managed to get elected despite all this opposition to him.

hogrammer 10y ago

You live in a bubble. I voted for him. And I'm a woman.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

xenadu02 10y ago

The tl;dr is voter apathy in key midwest states. IIRC Trump underperformed but Clinton underperformed even more. It is difficult to say with certainty but the FBI letter probably cost her the election by slightly depressing turnout. It also looks like the Republican effort to disenfranchise people by reducing early voting, voting hours, closing polling stations, enacting voter ID laws, purging voter rolls, etc has worked in the sense that it slightly reduced Dem turnout which was enough in this election. Their efforts to steal elections by gerrymandering themselves into power has also given them outsized control of the House and various state governments. It is really embarrassing that the majority of the country votes D and the Rs have control over the government. It's pure subversion of democracy. Russia certainly tried to influence the election but if it had been Obama running (or anyone charismatic) instead of Clinton it wouldn't have mattered; Trump would have lost by a huge EC margin. I'm far more worried about the long-term damage to the country now that the FBI has once again become an open political weapon, and that Rs are unapologetically disenfranchising people in an attempt to maintain power permanently.

LyndsySimon 10y ago
> Russia certainly tried to influence the election but if it had been Obama running (or anyone charismatic) instead of Clinton it wouldn't have mattered; Trump would have lost by a huge EC margin. While I don't agree with a great deal of the rest of your assertions, this stands out to me as the important one. If the Democrats had run almost anyone other than Hillary Clinton, they would have likely won. They ran Hillary Clinton.
- losteric 10y ago
  The DNC definitely backed the wrong horse in the Clinton vs Sanders primaries.
hackuser 10y ago
> the FBI letter probably cost her the election by slightly depressing turnout. Of course it's hard to point to one factor in such a complex, real world situation, But look at a chart of Clinton's poll numbers; she was comfortably ahead, and as soon as Comey's letter came out, her number dropped like a rock and never recovered. > It is really embarrassing that the majority of the country votes D and the Rs have control over the government. Note that the Democrats have won the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 national elections. Other than George W Bush's second election in 2004, the GOP hasn't won a nationwide majority since 1988.
- michaelchisari 10y ago
  This was such a squeaker of an election, that it seems that any one of the multitude of factors changes, and Hillary wins.
  - hackuser 10y ago
    You could say the same the other way. A rainy day in a major city in a key state and Trump gets a better result.
    - michaelchisari 10y ago
      I'm limiting it to political events centered on the candidates, almost all of which in the near lead-up to the election were focused on Hillary. And the only really close states were PA, MI and WI, all of which went to Trump by a sliver.

LyndsySimon 10y ago

Because 3 million women motivated enough to protest doesn't outweigh 30 million women motivated enough to vote. The fact of the matter is Trump's support base is broader than his opposition - at least, in the states where it matters.

hackuser 10y ago
In this case, it bears repeating that Trump lost the overall vote, and lost women's votes 54-41%. The country is a democracy, not an elected dictatorship. Voters and their desires don't disappear the day after the election. Republicans took resistance of Obama's presidency to record levels; only their propagandists can say with a straight face that those who oppose Trump should be quiet for the next four years.
- LyndsySimon 10y ago
  I don't think anyone expects them to be quiet. > Trump lost the overall vote, and lost women's votes 54-41%. I guess I don't see the point you're trying to make here. The GP asked how Trump got elected. He overwhelmingly won white, Christian, middle-class (and above) families - a group that has felt left out of American politics for the past decade or so.
- Mao_Zedang 10y ago
  It is also important to point out the overall vote is not important and never has been. It is a way for losers to complain be it republican or democrat, however when you get down to it is symbolic at best.
  - hackuser 10y ago
    Mao may not think popular opinion matters, and maybe he could ignore it in his dictatorship, but it's wrong in the U.S. The President leads a democratic political system, the heart of which is the will of the voters. Those in government need to keep the voters happy or they will lose their jobs; that's the way it was designed and the way it works. It shows the cynicism of the GOP that they would adopt a talking point from Putin, endorse something so undemocratic, and pretend to suddenly forget the unprecedented resistance the engaged in when Obama was President. Also, my point was relevant to the comment I was responding to.

Mao_Zedang 10y ago

He won more electoral votes than Hillary.

nommm-nommm 10y ago

The Dems shot themselves in the foot by running Clinton.