First of all, I will admit I was wrong about the outcome of the election. I’ve had time to accept the result and make a reasonable assessment as to why Hillary Clinton lost. No, it wasn’t because of the emails. No, it wasn’t because she’s a woman, either. The main reason why she lost is she did not get the majority of the white working class vote —e specially in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, the same states that carried Obama in 2008 and 2012. He won those states by over 50 percent of the vote, while Hillary Clinton lost by 41 percent.
Trump tapped into the majority of the American people’s fears and anger. Anger about jobs being lost, anger about immigration, and anger about our national security! Those three issues, his campaign hammered on. Yes, there was a lot of rhetoric going on that was very divisive.
But the fact remains that it worked! Shame on these silly Gallup polls that had Hillary Clinton decisively winning this election. One poll had her [at] an 89-percent chance of winning this election! Really? Apparently, these polls underestimated the mood of the majority! As for race being a factor, I’m not even going to go there because the same white working class that put Trump in office is the same white working class that put Obama in office for not one, but two, terms!
Hillary Clinton had the experience, but she was a flawed candidate and a career politician. I was a Hillary Clinton supporter, but I’m being as real as I can be!
Donald Trump said a lot of over-the-top things when he was running for president. The election is over now. He’s not running for primaries anymore. He’s not running for the Republican nomination anymore. He is now the president of the United States, whether some of us like and accept it or we don’t!
With that being said, he is in a position now that he has to do right by the American people! The majority of the American people wanted change. We’ll now have change. I just hope and pray that it’s the kind of change that benefits us all.
He now has to listen and work with people. He now has to use good judgment in making decisions! He said he would do a lot of things to get elected. Whatever he decides must benefit the majority. If it doesn’t, he will be a one-term president.
The American people have good memories. Polls don’t always tell the story. This is why we need to stop doing these silly Gallup polls. You have to know people. Really know people! Why? Because polls don’t determine elections … but people do!
Francis A. Bethel III
Dover