Trump's Victory Explained: The Loss of Faith in the Institutions

[CostinR]

Many people are angry for Trump's inaugural speech, thinking it defames the hallowed office of the Presidency...except that Americans haven't had much faith in that office for over 24 years regardless of how popular or unpopular a president was.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/171992/am...campaign=tiles



You can see that America's trust in the three big branches of government has fallen off a cliff since 1991. It was then that the modern circus of politics was born with Bill Clinton's election and all the scandals that followed him and Congress. Then came Bush and his scandals, then Obama and now finally Trump.

Clinton, Bush, Obama and now Trump were called illegitimate presidents. The only substantial difference I see is that Trump dropped the facade of the presidency that everyone else maintained. Obama tried to end this trend, saying people had not voted for "politics as usual" as in this circus but his methods failed.

Even Bush Senior wasn't really good at this. He merely was a Reagan's third term reaping the benefits of Reagan's presidency. Reagan was the last real American president, as in an individual under whose leadership Americans across the board had faith in their government...even though Reagan began his presidency by railing against big government.

Everyone else? The facade of a presidency. All the bells and whistles, the parades and ceremony but little of the actual respect and faith from the people to the government.

EDIT: To be clear this isn't about how Trump won per se, but rather how America has a very big problem in that the core institutions of state are no longer considered legitimate by a large majority of people.

[starlord]

the people are the ones to blame for the state of their government. voter apathy played a large role in trump's victory, and the same old people were voted in further down the line.

[aarro]

I laugh at the Trump haters.... It makes my day seeing all their tears every day

[Independent voter]

Here's how I explain a Trump victory: globalization + traditional Republicans voted for Trump en masse.

Globalization makes people afraid of losing their jobs and people afraid of losing their jobs are frantic for a solution and will follow anyone who says they can solve the problem

I thought some traditional Republicans, small business owners etc, would change sides and vote for Hillary because Trump was so awful, They didn't. I guess Hillary was just as bad in their minds so they went with the Republican.

[CostinR]

Here's how I explain a Trump victory: globalization + traditional Republicans voted for Trump en masse.

Perhaps, I'd merely argue that it's a 24 year old trend that led to this. You can see it in the chart.

Hell in 1992 people were ready for a Trump like candidate in Ross Perott in terms of ending outsourcing. In '92 not 2016.

[Fugus]

Trump's Victory can be explained pretty easily. Hillary Clinton.

If it wasn't for Clinton cheating in the Democratic Primaries she probably would have lost and even if she managed to eek out that victory, the public would have been more willing to fall behind her but instead she cheated the voters in the primary running many of them off rather than vote for the person in the general who stole their voice away in the primary. Then she preceded to slap them in the face antagonizing them with her actions where she was actually trying to reward those caught helping her cheat. We had Debbie forced to resign in disgrace for her actions helping to cheat in Clintons favor only to have Clinton snap her up the same day and have her replaced by another who cheated.

Then she cheated in the republican primaries which worked in Trumps favor as she was trying to setup the most damaged patsy for herself as possible to beat. Without Clinton, Trump would have probably be writen off as a joke and given the Sanders treatment and had a fraction of the support he has now (which is still rather low just vocal) and possibly lost the primary and even if he won, his support would have been lower.

Also if she hadn't had cheated, their wouldn't have been anything to leak about her cheating in the first place.

Trump win wasn't so much Trump winning but of Clinton losing due to her actions. Trump was just the person she ended up losing to which was also her blame due to trying to make sure he got there to begin with. If it had been a legit election without cheating and Clinton and Trump still managed to get on those spots, Clinton would have been the winner but you can't cheat your voters and expect them to come out. She managed to suppress the vote by something like 6 to 9 million votes.

Now we get to have a lying, freeloading Commander and Chump who's every plan and action thus far even preparing for the presidency have been ones that sell out the working class of this nation and their children while racking up the nation with debt that will be left to future generations while the rich make a killing.

So Trumps Victory is perfectly explained in 2 words: Hillary Clinton

They had a choice of winning with Sanders or losing with Clinton, they chose to lose.

[McFuu]

There really is no one major factor that led to Trump winning. Trying to find one or place more credence on one is really a fools errand.

The outgoing administration
Continuing lack of faith in the economy
Low quality candidates all around
Globalization
Weakening of the military
Resistance to a shift in American values
Foreign policy decisions

There are really a lot of points that would make someone vote for Trump, all are very valid to a wide range of people.

[Cruor]

The loss is easily explained. First, Fungus is partially correct, Hillary was a terrible choice. Shes a liar, a thief and just a plain bad person. The other choice, Bernie for example, is just too far to the left. The Democrats are going from the party for the working class to just being insane liberals, the party of the Transgender SJW purple hair having freaks who want everything to be free (well, paid for by people who work) I think a lot of people who would have voted Democrat are getting turned off by that.

Second, Trumps not a bad guy and most people can understand the stuff he said are just words. Men talk like that around men, at least most men do, sorry to tell you. Some 18 year old from Scandinavia is gonna post on here now "no we dont" because all he does is sit in his room and play WoW and Pokemon. Jocks and "alpha males" like Trump (he was an accomplished athlete when he was younger) do. He then goes home and treats his wife with respect. Melania had the option of choosing a lot of rich men for a husband, I dont think she chose Trump because she likes being abused.

Trump is new an exciting. People are tired of the same old candidates. He is not PC and speaks his mind. Lots of people like this. Its a backlash vs the PC bullshit going on, people saying you can't say he or her but must say "them" or you can't say Merry Xmas because its offensive.

Last, people are tired of illegal immigrants and minorities getting a bigger say then their % of the population should entail. Example: Black people constantly complain they don't have enough representation, however, when polled, people in other countries often guess black people make up 20-50% of the US population because they get so much exposure. They are 12%... In some areas, the schools have to teach in Spanish, or you walk into a store and nobody can speak English. Yes, white people are getting sick of cases like this, and they voted as such.

That pretty much sums it up. Keep being salty lefties, I am loving the entertainment.

[Fugus]

@Cruor

Bernie wasn't too far left, he was projected to win against all candidates on both sides by bigger margins than Clinton and they had to cheat to keep him out, his policies actually made sense and even had some republicans willing to vote for him and had a record of consistency to match his rhetoric.

And it isn't the Democrats going from the party of the working class to that of liberals, the party is turning into Republican-lite which is the complete opposite direction and lets face it, if someone wanted to vote for a left leaning republican, they wouldn't be registered as a democrat and is also why independents are the biggest voting block.

And as far as people understanding Trump being just words, a great deal of them don't and believe he actually means what he says and then conveniently ignores any contradictions and evidently have even attributed things he hasn't said to him as there is a group who actually think he is going to legalize pot when both his official stance never mentions it and his attorney general pick says he plans to crack down on it. Even heard a few of them actually trying to say how he was "Put there by god" and actually meant it.

[CostinR]

Gee, I wonder who it is that's constantly undermining the faith of the American people in their government institutions.

Both republicans and democrats because they've been constantly using shallow and pathetic attacks on each other have deeply increased partisanship for small political gains at the ballot box.

24 years of people like Bill Clinton, Newt Gingrich, Nancy Pelosi, Bush, Obama and Mitch McConnell nets you this:

[Halicia]

Second, Trumps not a bad guy and most people can understand the stuff he said are just words.

When the president says "Kill such and such person", its not just words. Its a lawful order from the commander in chief of the military that is criminal for military members to disobey.

So having a president that has no control over the words coming out of his mouth (self confessed over the "drain the swamp" abandonment), is a *BAD* and dangerous idea.

[Mad_Murdock]

I thought some traditional Republicans, small business owners etc, would change sides and vote for Hillary because Trump was so awful, They didn't. I guess Hillary was just as bad in their minds so they went with the Republican.

I think they did. But if you polled any republican a couple more inches over from the middle and I'm sure you'll find they view Hillary the way Gays and Muslims view Trump. Depending how much you sip of the crazy kool aid (from either side) you were in fear that Hillary was going to finish the job of handing America over to the Muslims, double welfare for the lazy, and kill all men that didn't bow down to their women overlords.

Sadly with Trump's win, I fear we're headed for even worse polarizing election cycles, because there is one thing Trump showed everyone on both sides. Fear and populism wins!

When the president says "Kill such and such person", its not just words. Its a lawful order from the commander in chief of the military that is criminal for military members to disobey.

It's not so black and white there. Trump can't order trops to murder the protesters at Trump towers. It's not a lawful order. They went over this when he talked about killing the family members of ISIS. Military said they wouldn't follow such orders.

[CostinR]

When the president says "Kill such and such person", its not just words. Its a lawful order from the commander in chief of the military that is criminal for military members to disobey.

The American people once viewed that as true and legitimate, they no longer right now even though you are legally correct.

[CostinR]

The correct answer was the Republicans.

You seem to have missed the part where the Demcorats did the exact same to Bush and every republican after that. Remember Romney's taxes and binders full of women?

Romney was smeared as some crazy whack job.

[CostinR]

The difference is they aren't the ones running around telling them that the government only exists to ruin their lives. Undermining an individual candidate is not the same as attacking the institutions themselves.

It has the same net effect.

[CostinR]

I see no reason to believe that is the case. One inspires distrust of the other party and encourages devotion to the party that will "save" them. The other inspires apathy and cynicism towards government period, discouraging participation entirely.

The graph on Bush fundamentally disagrees with you. The graph on periods when Republicans controlled Congress also show my point.

Look at the people genuinely afraid for their lives because of the way Pence has been smeared, and Pence hasn't done anything so far.

[flexilexi]

Trump won because the independent voters rejected Hilary and the craziness of liberal identity politics.

It really is that simple.

Trump could only beat Hillary.

[Deleted]

Trump didnt win the majority. He only won because of a old voting system.

Why people voted for him? No idea. Those who voted him voted a racist bigot fascist into office, while it is not clear if americas democracy will survive his presidency.

If you ask who is responsible: The voters. Those who voted for trump. They helped to probably destroy what made america great: Its liberal democracy. Those who voted for trump followed right ideas, which never worked actually. Right ideas which have been disproven in european history.

Right wing populism only works with the uneducated. And it seems, america got many uneducated people. Only uneducated people are easy victims for populism working with fake news and propaganda.

[CostinR]

Good lord. The graph shows a loss of faith in government institutions. It doesn't demonstrate the cause of that loss of faith. If you're going to wield statistics, do it correctly or don't do it at all.

Sure, if you really believe that.

Here's what I believe in essence, and what kind of tactics Trump uses:

https://youtu.be/0RMwjaZouNY?t=2m41s

Trump, the right SJW President. Enjoy

The way he presents himself is exactly the way politicians have been attacked on both sides of the isle: Lying, corrupt scum. He's a naked truth, a naked truth of how America REALLY views it's politicians and that would not be the same if someone like Romney hadn't been made a religios nut, or McCain a crazed war monger or Ross Perot dangerous.

24 years of it happening and this is what you get.

[rogueMatthias]

Look at the people genuinely afraid for their lives because of the way Pence has been smeared, and Pence hasn't done anything so far.

In trying to put him down so that Clinton would get the vote, the media have turned Trump into such an all encompassing bogeyman (and his team now too) that even months after the election, people over the world over are clinging onto the belief of this fictional exaggerated hitler-like caricature. It doesn't help that the media-version of Obama is so perfect and awesome that in a lot of circles it's hard to make ANY criticism of Obama or his policies without being branded a racist.

So in comparison, everything Trump says has been taken out of context or blown up to ridiculous levels (even if what he said was already completely ridiculous). Every throw away line is held up as inevitable policy. People are terrifying themselves. There's little wonder; they think they've gone from black-super-Jesus to a Russian controlled Satan.

I think it was good for people to protest the proposed cuts to PP. I think it's a huge backwards step. It's more an indictment of the problems of having religion as such a large force of governance in the US still, rather than for the misogynistic reasons that people seem to believe. It's when you actually start to read all of the other banners that you start to see a greater picture of this insane terrifying visions that people seem to believe will happen.

You have gay people that seem genuinely fearful for their lives, as if they'll all be rounded up into camps. You have people genuinely believing Trump will be rounding up ALL migrants onto trains and throwing them out of the country (or worse). You have people genuinely believing he's going to take away womens rights to vote and step back gender equality 70 years. You have people that GENUINELY believe there's the chance he'll just start nuclear war with a random country because he's "hot headed". This shit's all utter nonsense but people won't listen to reason anymore. Eventually this fear is going to lead to things a lot more serious than peaceful protests.