Sorry Bernie

With hindsight it is not difficult to make the argument that Bernie was correct back in the spring. He did have a better chance to win the Presidency than Hillary Clinton. Even considering the beating he would have taken as a “Communist” and “anti-Capitalist” for his ridiculous need to label himself, I now truly believe that Trump could not have cast a big enough shadow over him had Sanders been his opponent.

The populism that supported Bernie would have more than cancelled out Trump’s bizarre following.  That fact could be seen during the primaries, but I still didn’t support Bernie though I liked him and what he stood for…a lot.  I favored Clinton over Sanders because I thought Bernie was too old, a factor that really has no intrinsic substance.  I thought his claims to Socialism to be too toxic and unexplainable to an undereducated Nation. I felt he didn’t have the depth of international experience as did his opponent.

However, the main reason I supported Hillary over Bernie was because she is a woman, and I personally believe America is woefully late in putting real teeth into what has been to date lip service in dealing with gender inequality. Besides, male political leaders over recent decades have generally failed miserably and I don’t discount testosterone as being an underlying cause.

No do-overs unfortunately.  Sorry Bernie…sorry America.

I have to consider why I was so wrong to let head overrule my heart. I saddled up to the TV election night figuring I was going to watch the New England Patriots play the Virginia Cavaliers and I had happily bet my granddaughters’ futures on the Pats.  Here are, to my mind, the six primary reasons I lost my bet (in ascending magnitude)

6) Abortion. It was barely touched by either campaign but a continuing loser for Progressive Democrats. They fail to understand that there are tens of millions of Christian Conservatives who vote on this issue alone, virtually blinding them to anything else. Pro-choice advocates continually fail to see the common ground and validate the emotions of those who believe there is political solution to this issue.  Hillary was no different.

5) James Comey and the FBI. As the election ended up extremely close (60,000 votes switched in the states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and probably Michigan would have changed the outcome) it is perfectly reasonably to claim that Comey’s editorial rant against Hillary in July and his late October letter, which caused speculation on post-election indictments of a President-elect Clinton, was clearly enough to either sway large numbers of voters, keep them from the polls, or motivate them to vote against Clinton. No single individual did more to elect Donald Trump than James Comey...period.

4) The Media. Perhaps the nearly comical irony is that Trump riled against a Media that was the major supporter of his campaign. Seeking cash producing ratings gave Donald estimated $billions of free coverage. Bad or good was irrelevant.  There was so much coverage that no one idiotic bumble by Trump could have an impact. After a while all anyone really heard was the Trump name, which of course has been the secret to his lifetime success (not having to hear that name after November 8^th was my single biggest glee of anticipation). 

Do you remember the virtually insane insistence that he saw thousands of (supposed) Muslims in(specifically) Jersey City, NJ cheering as the NY Trade Center buildings went down on 9/11? It never came up again by Democrats, media, or otherwise.  Why? When the media publishes hundreds of similar statements, or when Politifact burns more pants on Trumps account than there are pants at Macy’s, it all becomes a blur…to Trumps advantage.

Had the 38 year old Fairness Doctrine not been jettisoned by Reagan in 1987 this one sided coverage would never have happened.

3) The polling and prognosticators. There is a lesson in here that will hopefully surface by the next national election.  What national polling did this year made me wake up November 9^th feeling personally violated.  The reasons why the polling was so wrong deserves its own analysis, but the impact of inaccurate polling I cannot understate here.

Two weeks before the election the media analysis of polling was speculating on a Clinton landslide.  There is no way you can go, especially with voting already underway in many states, from landslide to loss without there being incompetence.  The effects are huge. It kept away unenthusiastic Clinton votes because they viewed it as a done deal, it motivated moderate Trump supporters just to make their own statement.  There was undoubtedly a “Brexit” style vote where people voted for Trump to register their protest of (whatever) because they were confident from the polling that the nut case would never be elected.

2) The Clinton Campaign.  Perhaps over time we will learn who the prime mover was, but the Clinton Campaign was ill-conceived and poorly executed.  They were handed possibly the most undesirable and easily beatable opponent one could conceive.  They then proceeded to feed the beast and starve themselves.

The character and nature of Trump was baked in and out of the oven by the end of his Keystone Cops convention.  Still, the Clinton Team spent (I’m guessing) 90% of the rest of their campaign arguing what everyone already knew.  They failed to see that the extensive history that Hillary had, good and controversial, needed to be told…and sold.  They really never fought to give us reasons to vote for Hillary. 

In the 2^nd and 3^rd debates she should have dismissed Trump outright and not brought up a single negative, rather to focus on issues and national pride.  Even though she was considered the “winner” each time, I felt disappointed and nervous.  She won the anti-Trump vote, but she never sealed the deal on the “for Hillary” vote. The fact that she is personally a mediocre campaigner made that essential.

So what is my number 1 reason?  Simple. The main reason Hillary lost was because she is a woman…it’s just that uncomplicated.  Change that one fact, with all other things being equal, and “Mr.” Clinton wins. If Trump had fouled up his email to no consequence it would fallen to number 783 of all the reasons to reject him. This is obvious by the immediate facts of the election but over time will become more obvious.  This Nation is currently not ready to see women as leaders and that attitude is true for both American men and women.  The ramifications of this reality have their own trajectory in business, but opponents are gaining ground. It still lags, though, in Government and certainly lags compared to the rest of the Western World.  You’ll find it far more consistent in places like Russia and China.

As I’ve written before in this blog, the real problem with this issue is not men. The problem is American women. There is a view primarily among those pre-Vietnam and baby boomer generations that being a feminist is essentially un-feminine.  They are unable to see or perhaps even accept the changes that are taking place in our societies, or they are often guided by antiquated religious dogma.  Therefore, they consider the issue of gender inequality as it affects them, rather than to think of it as they look down at their daughters and/or granddaughters.  I am profoundly sadden to believe that at age 67 I might not live to see an American woman become President and Commander-in-chief.  It may have to wait until half the baby boomers have passed on or living on Ensure IVs.

To think that I’ve got Donald Trump instead is nothing but proverbial salt in the wound…and plenty of it.