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Since she won the popular vote by almost 3 million and since the margins of victory in important states were slim, it's fair to say that not much was needed to

Since she won the popular vote by almost 3 million and since the margins of victory in important states were slim, it's fair to say that not much was needed to shift the results of the elections. Hated by the public? Each was hated by half the public who voted, which was only half of the potential voting public. Hard to draw any grand conclusions from that. Also, it's hard to say that the hatred of Clinton and the hatred of Trump are comparable. One was based on decades of propaganda with little concern for policy; the other based on a look at the candidate and their unprepraredness for office. Many forces - sure - you can always say that, but sometimes the reality is right there in front of us and, for whatever reasons, people don't want to acknowledge it.

maltalex 9y ago
> it's fair to say that not much was needed to shift the results of the elections. Yes, the Russians contributed to that shift, but that's the small picture. How did we even get to a point in which Trump is so close to being elected? > Each was hated by half the public who voted, which was only half of the potential voting public. Hard to draw any grand conclusions from that. From fivethirtyeight.com's analysis titled "Americans’ Distaste For Both Trump And Clinton Is Record-Breaking" (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-distaste-for-both-trump-and-clinton-is-record-breaking/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-distaste-for-...): Part of the negativity voters feel toward Clinton and Trump probably has something to do with growing political polarization in our country. But polarization doesn’t explain everything. If Trump and Clinton’s strongly unfavorable ratings were simply a byproduct of polarized politics, you’d expect them to have high “strongly favorable” ratings too. They don’t. You can see this in their net strong favorability ratings (the “strongly favorable” rating minus the “strongly unfavorable” rating): No major party nominee before Clinton or Trump had a double-digit net negative “strong favorability” rating. Clinton’s would be the lowest ever, except for Trump. > Also, it's hard to say that the hatred of Clinton and the hatred of Trump are comparable. One was based on decades of propaganda with little concern for policy; the other based on a look at the candidate and their unprepraredness for office. Problem is, both viewpoints equal in the ballot box, regardless of their validity.

maltalex 9y ago

> it's fair to say that not much was needed to shift the results of the elections. Yes, the Russians contributed to that shift, but that's the small picture. How did we even get to a point in which Trump is so close to being elected? > Each was hated by half the public who voted, which was only half of the potential voting public. Hard to draw any grand conclusions from that. From fivethirtyeight.com's analysis titled "Americans’ Distaste For Both Trump And Clinton Is Record-Breaking" (https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-distaste-for-both-trump-and-clinton-is-record-breaking/ https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/americans-distaste-for-...): Part of the negativity voters feel toward Clinton and Trump probably has something to do with growing political polarization in our country. But polarization doesn’t explain everything. If Trump and Clinton’s strongly unfavorable ratings were simply a byproduct of polarized politics, you’d expect them to have high “strongly favorable” ratings too. They don’t. You can see this in their net strong favorability ratings (the “strongly favorable” rating minus the “strongly unfavorable” rating): No major party nominee before Clinton or Trump had a double-digit net negative “strong favorability” rating. Clinton’s would be the lowest ever, except for Trump. > Also, it's hard to say that the hatred of Clinton and the hatred of Trump are comparable. One was based on decades of propaganda with little concern for policy; the other based on a look at the candidate and their unprepraredness for office. Problem is, both viewpoints equal in the ballot box, regardless of their validity.