WHAT MADE DONALD TRUMP THE WINNER?

…The New POTUS elect

 

All these experts have their answers, most of them are probably wrong.

 

Today, many American so called political experts are shaking their heads asking “What the hell happened, why did Donald Trump win the election?”

 

All these experts have their answers, but I would suggest that most of them, this early on after the election are probably wrong.

 

As Trump’s wreck of a campaign continued to roll on over the months, only Trump and a hardy few of his true believers insisted to the end, that they knew better, and that Trump was going to win. Today, no one can argue with Trump’s success.

 

Even in Trump’s own camp though, one of his senior advisors had said that, “A Trump win would be a miracle!”

 

Today, just days after the election, Trump’s victory is a confirmation in the eyes of the millions who wish to believe that, “Mr. Trump is a man gifted with special insight and a special connection with the American people.”

 

An even the Russian leader Putin apparently wanted the see Mr. Trump in the White House!  According to many national newspapers, Russia has admitted that Trump’s campaign had communicated with Russia during the campaign!  Trump has denied this, but it should make for some interesting conversation over the coming weeks and months.

 

Trump has also said once again that his first action as president will be to repeal Obamacare and drop 20 million people off of their health care coverage while bringing back the dreaded “pre-existing condition” clause.  So far, all that he has said for “replacing Obamacare” is that you will be able to buy insurance across state lines and you can start your tax-free health-savings accounts.  You know, those accounts where you can put the extra money you already don’t have, and can save it for a tiny part of your total health care expenses.  That’s just great!

 

But Trump broke all the rules of American politics while proving wrong, those virtually unanimous experts that said his election was not even a possibility.

 

But what was it that eventually made Trump the winner?

 

Was it his charismatic charm?  Well, it was hardly that.  Was it his personal charm or magnetism?  Well, he has shown absolutely neither of these.

 

According the famous sociologist Max Weber, it was his “charismatic authority”.  Anyone who has witnessed a Trump rally, and the massive energy that was generated by the reinforcing of the political rule-breaking carried out by both the candidate and his faithful crowds, this would confirm that Weber’s concept probably applies.

 

It is that, “charismatic authority” which does not have anything in common with the traditional authority that US elections under our US Constitution were meant to confer.

 

Looking ahead to the possible Trump administration, the hope is that all of that mess from the actual campaign was all just a political spectacle, and that Trump will accept constitutional and political constraints once in office. The fear however is, that Trump’s “charismatic authority” is so personally intoxicating that it could offer great difficulty for anyone who would challenge him, at least during the beginning of his presidency.

 

For those outside Trump’s circle, the overwhelming situation is whether due to this “charismatic authority”, will he also continue to have his inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes as he did during the campaign…?  If you did look at Trump during the campaign, those attitudes were a particularly crippling form of “personal authority”.

 

Today, the Democrats are still totally confused as to why Trump won the election….?  The Democrats feel that they do not know what is going on in their own country, and it may be a long time before they can formulate an effective understanding and a proper response.

 

But whether the GOP likes it or not, some of the Republicans who were reelected to the Senate or the House this election, they owe their upset victories to Donald Trump’s coattails.  You also now have a formula for Trump to completely dominate the GOP establishment.  That is not going to go over well with the traditional Republicans that held their nose when they voted for Mr. Trump.

 

On paper, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.) have ample means to deal with a President Trump. Yet those means consist of conventional parliamentary mechanisms. Yes, Trump can go over their heads to the GOP masses, aided by the new high priest of Republican communications, Mr. Stephen K. Bannon of Breitbart News, who is currently enjoying his own powerful moment of vindication.

 

But when and if Republican resistance develops, or if Trump blunders with something like a serious national or world recession, his aides will be ready to assist Trump in moving the blame onto anyone except the new president. You may recall that the Trump media continually scapegoated the mainstream media and other enemies during the general campaign.

 

But the American constitutional system does check and balance these situations.  However this time, it may be about to face an historic test.  If the checks still work, Trump will probably find himself bogged down in inconclusive political battles.  But if they don’t, Trump might become the authoritarian type leader he seems to admire.  This will most likely disillusion his followers, and it will encourage his opponents.  It could also force Trump into a more conventional form of democratic politics.  But as usual, only time will tell.

 

The point is that this would disarm his “charismatic authority” through its “routinization” (another Max Weber word) which means “to reduce his authority to a basic routine”, and, fortunately, the great German sociologist, with his prodigious study, was able to identify multiple instances of this with other strong leaders throughout history.

 

But not even Max Weber ever had to analyze or deal with a “piece of work” quite like Donald Trump.

 

Donald Trump has stated that since he won, he wants to be the president of all Americans.  Unfortunately, there are thousands of people that are demonstrating against having Donald Trump as their president.  They are saying that in New York City, Seattle, Portland, Albuquerque, Oakland, Tempe, Chicago, Baltimore, and many other American cities.  And these demonstrations are growing in scope and size in other major cities across the country.  Of course, Trump has Tweeted that these are all, “paid demonstrators”.  But paid by whom and with whose money? 

 

These demonstrators have been interviewed and they laugh at the possibility of “being paid to demonstrate against Trump”.   They all have made it crystal clear that they are all saying that they are against a demagogue like Donald Trump. and they do not want him as their president.  It’s really that simple.

 

Stay tuned to this station.

 

Copyright G.Ater  2016