In my local community, I’ve heard many explanations, often seasoned with a teaspoon of blame, on how and why Donald Trump prevailed in this week’s presidential election.
White people elected Trump!
Or, men elected Trump!
Or, small-town and rural America defeated the big cities.
Or even, less-educated voters — those without a college degree — elected Trump.
In my opinion, it is more accurate to say that the neglected, aggrieved working class revolted against the Democratic Party and against the perceived elites. The working class AND the middle class! The dividing line between working class and middle class these days is about as thin as a dollar bill.
The working-class vote that elected Trump is mostly white, it is true. But it is not exclusively male. Many working-class women, as well as working-class men, voted for Trump. And many college-educated men who do not hold prestigious, high-paying jobs, voted for Trump as well. Call them working class or middle class. What’s the difference?
Bernie Sanders had it right. The Democratic Party cannot turn its back on working class voters. They should be our voters! Shame on the Democratic Party if it allows Republican candidates to win the allegiance of the working class.
It was the revolt of the working class and the middle class, male and female, high school educated and college educated. And, when we drill down a little deeper into the election results, I suspect we will find that a significant number of working class black men voted the same way as working class white men.
The revolt of the working class, of whatever gender or race, added to traditional suburban Republican voters, made Donald Trump president.
Also let the record show that the 2016 general election was a low-turnout election. When turnout is high, Democrats can win; when turnout is low, Republicans win. Nothing new or surprising about that!
Some working-class folks who never voted before turned out this year. A few women and men who might have voted for Hillary Clinton, or would have voted for some other Democratic candidate, simply stayed home. Similarly, minority voters didn’t turn out for Hillary in quite the numbers that voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. At least a few younger voters who were inspired by Bernie Sanders also stayed home, or perhaps voted for the Libertarian or Green party candidates.
Every vote counts. Every Democratic voter who decided to stay home enabled the revolt of the working class and the middle class to put Donald Trump over the top in the electoral vote.
The working class has made it clear that they are angry and worried. Donald Trump is the president-elect.
What will the Democratic Party do now?
— John Hayden
Living Simply And Still On The Grid 
If every vote counted then the popular vote would be the deciding factor and we would have a criminal, subject to multiple FBI investigations, for president.
I feel that trump was the lesser of the two evils by a wide margin so I am very pleased he won. But, when someone receives the popular vote but still loses the election something is not right
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Good point about the popular vote vs. the electoral college vote. I must point out that although Hillary Clinton has been investigated many times, she has never been convicted of a crime and I do not presume her to be a criminal. I agree with you that many voters felt they had to choose between two flawed candidates.
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When I lived int he USA, I worked two jobs for 10 years. When I got paid, I wrote checks till I had very little money, (I still had plenty of bills for next payday) then ate 5 for a dollar Ramen noodles and the cheapest foods available. While at the grocery store, I saw people loading up their carts with steaks and cookies and sodas, then whip out a wad of food stamps to pay.
People live on credit cards slightly out of their means. Payday, they pay all the minimums on their credit cards. When a card gets maxxed out, there’s always a pre-approved card in the mail the same day. When they can’t pay the minimums on all their credit cards, the bank forecloses on their house. About 15 years ago, so many people were having their homes foreclosed on, the US government bailed out the banks. What for? So the banks could “extend more credit”, give my neighbor more credit cards.
So many people weren’t paying their mortgages the banks were in danger. You’re never going to see a large percentage of the people in the US sitting in the street with an equal percentage of the houses foreclosed on and empty.
The banks got their bailout money from the US government, plus they’re going to try to get the money from the forclosees, which they won’t. The forclosee will declare bankruptcy, and suddenly be debt free.
Suddenly, the people living outside their means on credit cards will be debt free, while I still have to work two jobs and eat Ramen noodles.
These are the people who voted for Trump.
I’m glad I left the USA 21 years ago. But in every election I ever voted in, I never voted FOR anybody, always aginst that one SOB who absolutely cannot get elected. Trump is the first person who ran for president that i would have voted FOR.
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Thanks Mark. That’s a good commentary on the financial and economic dilemma facing our country. Where it will end, I do not know. I must commend you on continuing to keep your blog rolling along for a long time. You are a true blue blogger! Good to hear from you, John
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