WHAT DOES AN ANGRY ELECTORATE MEAN ABOUT THE 2016 ELECTION

…What is going to be decided inside the voting booth is still a big question.

 

Only about a quarter of the nation’s population thinks the nation is on the right track.

 

Anyone that has read or followed my Blog know exactly how I feel about Donald Trump.

 

But what is now becoming more apparent is the real reason that Donald Trump has the popularity he has with the average American worker.

 

First, one has to ignore the difference between the two political parties.

 

By this I mean, forget whether you are a Republican or a Democrat.  The important issues for this up-coming election is that In the most recent average of polls calculated by RealClearPolitics, 26.9% of Americans think the nation is headed in the right direction and 64.9% think we are heading down the wrong track.  And this is regardless of any party affiliations.

 

Oh, it’s true that 6 in 10 Americans have an unfavorable view of Trump, and only 36% view him positively.

 

The point is that even though Hillary has what seem to be a lead on Trump, what if Hillary becomes considered “status-quo”, or “Business-as-usual”, and even with his negatives, Trump could be looked at positively as someone that is going to shake up the system.

 

Remember, both Bernie Sanders and Donald want to reorganize the US government, where Clinton seems to want to just “Tweak” the system.

 

What if that’s not enough for the average voter?  What if they want Trump’s bizarre concept or Bernie’s “Revolution!”

 

Many of both Hillary and Bernie’s supporters are already saying that Trump is crude, ill-informed and totally inconsistent.  They know that he insults Hispanics, Muslims and various groups.  But they also say that is his entertainer’s “Shtick”, and that he probably doesn’t mean ½ of what he says.  But could voters overlook, discount, or wish away and excuse most of the many Trump fantasy ideas?

 

You may remember that Al Gore avoided using the support of President Clinton so that he could sell the idea that his administration would not be another extension of the Clinton years.  Unfortunately, Gore was never able to establish himself as a “new brand” and a change from being a part of the former Clinton Administration.

 

Unlike Gore, Hillary Clinton is not an incumbent. But she is associated with the establishment, having served as first lady, US senator and Obama’s Secretary of State over the past quarter-century.

 

Clinton is in the classic case of “Damned if you do”, or “Damned if you don’t”.  Hillary cannot afford to distance herself from President Obama, whose backers she will need to turn out in large numbers.

 

As of today, 2/3rds of the nation may think we are on the wrong track, but Obama’s approval rating is above 51% and rising.  Clinton cannot shun Obama’s legacy.  (Many pundits are saying that after the winner in November is announced, many Americans will be pining for the old Obama Administration.)

 

Trump is also in the interesting position of only getting a small plurality of the Republican voters.

 

But he’s also the one that we were previously told, that he couldn’t top 30%, and then it was 40%, and finally 50% in the Republican primaries. We were told that Trump was finished after he called Mexicans rapists, and insulted prisoners of war, and dished out menstruation insults on women.  So, how well did that work out?

 

But the reality is that only 4.7% of eligible American voters have voted for Trump in the primaries.

 

That means that 94.3% will probably not choose someone who continues to casually threaten the full-faith and credit of the United States.  Nor, will they probably choose someone that supports the merits of nuclear proliferation or an individual that espouses torture as an instrument of US policy.  But then again......

 

Let’s face it, the Republicans are divided, while the economy has been improving, and the nation’s demographics are increasingly in Democrats’ favor.

 

Some are predicting not only a big win for Hillary, but also a big win for Democrats in both Houses.

 

But as I have said before, when 2/3rds of the nation is angry, nothing is guaranteed.  The American voters are usually worth our trust in getting it right.  But in today’s angry environment, anything can still happen.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2016