July 25, 2017
Presidential Election 2016 - The Trump Phenomenon
By Arthur Kane Scott
As the presidency of Barack Obama wound down, and the presidential election of 2016 heated-up, it would cast Democrat, Hillary Clinton, first women candidate for presidency, against Republican, Donald Trump, a New York real estate tycoon. Hillary was in many ways one of the better prepared Presidential candidates, serving as Secretary of State under Obama, senator from New York, and had been a leading light for global women’s issues as well as championing medical reform.
Trump’s experience, on the other hand, was in real estate, gaming and entertainment, where he had made millions. He ran as an outsider who called for “draining the Washington swamps” and “making American great again.” He was an astute counter-puncher, who excelled at ridiculing his adversaries, whether they be Republican or Democrat. His bullying, in-your-face-style found a responsive chord among conservative America.
By 2016, America was badly divided between the predominant white rural red states, and the ethnic diverse blue urban states. “Identity Politics” was a major theme throughout the election. The split was not only on identity, but also socio-economic. Cities and their diverse populations had prospered through globalization, technology, information systems, entertainment and financial services centering on New York, Hollywood, Silicon Valley, Chapel Hill, and Atlanta.
Rural America, on the other hand, found itself in a 1950`s time warp, both socially and economically. Jobs and manufacturing floundered.Income levels, too, had collapsed, opioid addiction skyrocketed as educational opportunities vanished from what became known as theRust Belt. The Rust Belt, included a large swath of middle America, from Appalachia through the Great Lakes spilling into the Rocky Mountain states. Therepeoples felt ignored and betrayed by a government headed by a Black President,who did everything for everyone else: women, peoples of color and immigrants.
They were particularly reminded of their stagnation through television and entertainment which focused on the successes of sports figures and musical/moviestars who had made millions, and had becomecelebrities through the technology of Facebook and twitter. Even gays had made tremendous social advances, while no one seem to care about their fate. They were indeed the forgotten Americans and seethed with anger. They were looking for a hero, and found it in Donald Trump, who intuited theirfrustration, and tapped into its fury. His cry was “Let’s make America great again,” by bringing back manufacturing jobs, and following an American first policy.
The presidential campaign was quite brutal on Hillary who took the high road with lots of facts and figures about inclusiveness and racial justice for minorities, free college and reduction of student debt, universal health care, gun violence and climate change. Her campaign, however, suffered from a lack of passion, and an over- arching theme. She was attacked by the Right over Ben- Gazzi/Libya, and her use of a private e-mail server proved to be her undoing as it led FBI Director, James Comey, to reopen the matter ten days before the election. Many pundits blamed Hillary’s defeat partially on the Comey decision.
The other matter that hurt was the hacking of Democratic records at the time of the Convention, which indicated that traditional party leaders clearly favored Hillary over Bernie Saunders, senator from Vermont, who ran on a more radical social-democratic agenda that appealed to American youth and independents. Ironically, although Hillary lost the electoral college to Trump she did win the Popular vote by nearly 2.9 million. The second time intwodecades thata Democrat was denied theWhite House because of the electoral college raising serious questions about its appropriateness as a counterpoint to the popular will.
Trump’s campaign was totally different. It was aggressive, long on promises,but short on details. Trump played to the prejudices of his base calling for keeping Mexicans/Latinos out by building a larger wall to be paid by Mexico.He characterized them as being druggies or drug dealers. Muslims, too, were banned entry onthegrounds of beingterrorists. Asians werecriticized for taking away jobs in the Silicon Valley. Trump called for ending the use of the H-13 program, “as a cheap labor program,” sent a chill through the Hi -Tech world, which depended on outsiders with math/technical skills to sustain their innovative energy.
Trump called for bringing jobs back to America by getting out of global agreements, NAFTA, that impoverished working Americans. He called for “draining the swamps” of Washington filled withgreedy globalists who were undermining America’s economic positioning by entering into unfavorable trade agreements. He similarly targeted women, calling for repeal of Planned Parenthood, and was very critical of Megyn Kelly of Fox News for her role in the First Debate when she accused him of “waging a war on women.” Throughout the campaign,Trump’s sexism manifested itself, including Billy Bush`s recording of his earlier lewd remarks,and his back-stage voyeurism with Miss Universe contestants as they dressed for their presentations.
He showed a robust admiration for Vladimir Putin, even though the United States and NATO had serious qualms about him going back to the annexation of Crimea, and occupation of eastern Ukraine leading the West to impose economic sanctions.Trump saw Putin as an important ally in the “War on Terrorism” and in stabilizing the Middle East. Another issue that haunted Trump was his refusal to release his tax returns. It was rumored that he had real estate dealingswith Russian wheelers/dealers, who had connections to the Kremlin. His strategy was to harangue mainstream media for its coverage as “fake news,”/” alternative facts,” and to Twitter.Being an entertainer he recognized the political value ofstayingin touch with his base through twittering. He twittered continuously. Much of which was outrageous, based on half-truths, lies and exaggerations.
Trump despite being a grassroots underdog emerged as the Forty-fifth president. What made his victory possible was his growing appeal in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan—states that normally went Democratic.In the final analysis Trump’s victory was tied to the economic stagnation that many coal, manufacturing and production workers in these states had experienced with the great recession of 2007, and which under Obama, had shown only minimum improvement by 2016. They were desperate!
Ironically, as soon as Trump became the issue of Russian meddling in the 2016 election surfaced. Russian cyber-attack on American democracy led to the Comey firing in spring 2017, to the appointment of Robert Mueller, former FBI Director, as Special Counsel to explore the matter and the degree, if any, of Trump organization involvement in the Russian meddling. It cast a dark shadow over the White House as did Trump’s policies on immigration, Obamacare, women’s rights, environment and education. By summer’s end many in American were calling for impeachment. The great “Deal Makers” cards for transforming America were in serious peril.
Arthur Kane Scott is Professor of Humanities and Cultural Studies at the Dominican University of California and Fellow of American Institute of International Studies.
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