Trump Triumphs, Hillary Falters in US Presidential Race
Congratulations! Donald John Trump managed to record a historic victory at the Presidential Elections 2016 and has managed to secure the Oval Office for Republicans for the next four years. The voters of the United States have once again come out and proclaimed their strength by picking the GOP nominee against the popular favorite, presidential hopeful from the Democrat Party, Hillary Clinton.
Taking The Popular Path
The one election promise that may have helped Trump gain the confidence of voters across the US is that of entering the foray and taking action against the Islamic State. Obama’s hesitation to take action against ISIS which is turning out to be an imminent global threat, does not represent the values that the US stands for, many believe. Hillary, had she been elected, would have inherited this ambivalence. Trump also chose the popular path by coming out in support of the gun lobby back home while Hillary picked a path of staunch opposition. A choice she paid for by losing the swing states.
Immigration Issues
The star of Donald Trump’s campaign was his take on immigration, particularly illegal immigration. Trump tapped into the American fears of losing jobs to migrants and to offshore outsourcing ventures. In recent years, the US has lost about 5 million jobs to a downsized manufacturing sector. Trump’s promise to bring them back is a sure beacon of hope for the working class. “IBM laid off 500 workers in Minneapolis and moved their jobs to India and other countries. A Trump administration will stop the jobs from leaving America”, he had promised. In comparison, Hillary’s insistence on creating more green card channels for immigrants seems to have paled.
Overcoming The Great Divide
Trump’s victory lies in his margins. Even in states that remain Democratic strongholds, Hillary’s margins have dipped and in Republican states, the victory margins are up from 2012. Despite a great divide among the Republican leaders in their support of Trump, the Republican nominee went ahead and made friends with assurances of cooperating with Russia and supporting groups such as the American Indians. Trump has been most successful in bridging the great divide that overshadowed American politics in recent times.
First Among Equals
In a presidential race that cuts it this close, one thing is clear – Trump may not be loved greatly, but Hillary is certainly not the alternative America was looking for. Despite popular media reports predicting a landslide Democrat win, Trump managed to take state after state in the race to 270. The swing states certainly made a huge difference in the final count. Trump was successful in claiming a large chunk of the votes that are traditionally pledged to the Democrats. Let us take a look at the issues that may have weighed Clinton down in her race to the Oval Office.
The Email Scandal
The scandal that may have done Hillary Clinton and her campaign in, was the “extremely careless” handling of her emails and classified information during her tenure as Secretary of State. Back in July, the FBI led an investigation and absolved her of any criminal charges but with just about 11 days to the polls, the bureau reopened investigations and examined newly discovered email communication sent and received by her. While Clinton was cleared a second time, the timing of this announcement couldn’t have been worse and affected a number of Democratic voters who deflected at the final hour.
Track Record
At the very center of Hillary’s campaign were her credentials – a lifetime of public service. Starting from her days as the wife of the Governor of Arkansas to the First Lady of the United States to the First Secretary, Hillary’s track record of public service has been dished out vis-à-vis Trump’s “inexperience”. It is this very track record, however, that may have turned the voters off.
Hilary Clinton became the first (and hopefully only) presidential wife to have been questioned in a criminal case. While she may not have been implicated, the Whitewater scandal certainly did not add to Clinton’s popularity. As the US Secretary of State, Ms. Clinton’s positions were rather tricky. On the one hand she came out in support of dictators such as Hosni Mubarak of Egypt while condemning others such as Muammar Gaddafi of Libya. Her failure to forge cohesive bonds with major Asian nations such as India is another lack of success, if not outright failure. The policy of calculated ambivalence certainly did not win her the popularity vote.
Hillary Clinton, presidential nominee for the Democrats, is solidly against participating in action against the ISIS and in other Afro-Asian countries but the voters haven’t forgotten what the continued action in Afghanistan (when Clinton was Secretary of State) has cost us.
Not Obama’s Successor
Despite what the outgoing POTUS Barack Obama and his First Lady would have us believe, Hillary Clinton is not his successor. Neither does she command the universal goodwill nor the resolute action plan that Obama laid out. Trump’s victory in Florida, Georgia, and the swing states are proof enough of the great sway that the Republicans have held over the past few weeks.
Donald Trump is the next President of the United States. That much is clear. What remains to be seen is the difference between Trump’s electoral campaign and his administration as the President. A number of Trump’s claims have come across as rather tall but will they translate into a solid groundwork for the US to build upon? That is the question that is ruling our minds now.