Posted ByJohnIn 2016, the 58th presidential election was held in the United States, mainly between the Republican candidate, Donald Trump, and the Democrat pick, Hillary Clinton. The former secretary of state became the first woman nominated for President by a major American party. On the other hand, Trump defeated a huge number of serious Republican nominees, including two Senators – Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. He took his party’s front-runner position and made a campaign described by many as aggressive and populist. His lack of military experience or any public service in the past were strong reasons for Hillary Clinton to believe that he would lose the popular vote.
Long story short, Donald Trump did lose it, with his opponent winning 2.1% more of the country and area electorate votes. However, the 58th election for US president became the 5th in history lost by the candidate who has won the people. The reasons can be found everywhere, including in Trump’s highly emotional speeches, such as his promise to make America great again. Despite the predictions of most major media, Hillary Clinton was defeated in thirty states with 306 pledged electors. The Republican businessman even won in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin considered Democratic strongholds for decades.
The Morrocco King
This article will focus on a few major mistakes that we believe had a serious impact on Hillary Clinton’s result. Her highly controversial personality and “scandal-ridden past,” as some journalists and analysts called, are certainly at the root of the 2016 failure. We shall begin with the scandal in Morocco just before Clinton’s official presidential candidacy announcement. She confirmed her presence at the 2015 Morocco Clinton Global Initiative fundraiser. The noble initiative was planned for May, but the election campaign was announced on April 12, 2015, leaving Hillary in an awkward situation without a useful move!
The problem here was that Mohamed VI, the king of Morocco, pledged to provide $12 million for Bill Clinton’s philanthropic initiative. On the other hand, the Moroccan parliamentary constitutional monarchy has been accused of human rights abuses more than once. After all, it was clear that Hillary Clinton would not attend, but the scandal was quickly fanned by the media worldwide. Morocco dissociated and declared the information to be fake, but Donald Trump and the other candidates used it for political benefits. It is difficult to say whether this situation has tipped the scales in someone’s favor. Either way, it’s all Clinton-style!
Minority Vote Is Not Equal to Victory
Going back in history, we can see that the support of the minorities and the young voters underlie the election and re-election of Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. The Democrats not only won their hearts and minds but made them go out and vote in great numbers. Donald Trump’s populist, nationalist, and often offensive speeches provided a new opportunity to win in the same way. However, Hillary and her team didn’t work hard enough to motivate the youngsters, Latino and African-American voters. As a result, they did support her candidacy, but in a much smaller number than expected and necessary!
The minority vote does have the power to turn the US election upside down, but unlike the hard electoral cores of the parties, they are more difficult for full mobilization. Clinton’s belief that they will continue with the support like in the past 8 years obviously misled her, and this must be considered a serious mistake! Of course, the lessons were learned, and the Democrats acted differently four years later. Their candidate, Joe Biden, became the 46th President of the United States, and Hillary seems to have lost her chance for the White House!
Trust Issues
In the last few presidential elections in the United States, an interesting trend has emerged! It turned out that women are more likely to exercise their right to vote than men. In light of that, it was natural for many people within the political circles that it was time for America to elect the country’s first woman president! Gender may have seemed like a big advantage, but choosing the right candidate should have been better discussed. Many voters, especially from the working class, do not approve of the Democratic pick as they don’t see Hillary as one of them and therefore don’t trust her.
This thesis may seem too superficial, but the story dates back to the time of President Bill Clinton. Many Americans do not like the significant increase in the family’s wealth after the end of the presidential term. And it’s not just that! There are at least 3 serious reasons related to Hillary Clinton and trust:
- Too much ambition – She would do anything to win!
- The email campaign scandal – Does Hillary conceal things?
- Symbol of Recent Past – She was part of a distrusted Government!
And all this is only on the surface! For example, the Los Angeles Times ran a survey asking readers to describe the Democratic nominee in a single word. Negative definitions such as liar, war, and corruption were prevalent!
Final Words
In conclusion, we could say the 2016 election was a competition between two candidates who would never stand a chance against many of the former US presidents. The trust issues with Hillary Clinton’s personality and the loss of the Obama coalition outweighed all the disadvantages of the property tycoon Donald Trump. Of course, Clinton’s supporters may seek and even find the reasons elsewhere, but as always, this would be a disregard for obvious facts!