Wednesday, November 09, 2016

The Election and The Donald


Can you imagine being a pollster today?

What do you say? Oops?

Elections are a marvelous process. Poll after poll and column after column and then  - here's the beauty - Americans get to have their own say. Mechanics and lawyers, techies and homemakers, students and retirees, the whole crew, mosey on in and mark their ballots.

Best wishes to President-Elect Trump. He pulled off an amazing feat. As an outsider, he defeated a well-funded opponent and, in the process, built a new political coalition. He has also smashed the old ultra-slick model for political candidates and replaced it with a flawed but genuine alternative.

Those who underestimate him do so at their peril.

[P.S. This might be a good time to delve into Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox by James MacGregor Burns.]

4 comments:

Dan in Philly said...

As a fan of history, I am always amazed at how America and the modern age is able to transition power from one set of people to another without bloodshed. Regardless of if you like who is in power or not that's an amazing accomplishment.

Michael Wade said...

Daniel,

It is one of the most underappreciated accomplishments on the planet.

Michael

Anonymous said...

When I think of democracies many failings, I remind myself that we don't have any better systems, and that at least we have bloodless transitions.

ALSO, remember Michael when you asked the rhetorical question during the primaries... "How come so many people are voting for someone so clearly unelectable?" :P

-Bobbo

Michael Wade said...

Bobbo,

You are absolutely correct about my question during the primaries. The polling did not indicate that Donald Trump was electable in a general election. It would have been more revealing if the primaries simply had Trump versus one other opponent. I based my opinion on the available evidence at the time.

All of that being said, the polling biz has suffered a major blow to its credibility, Donald Trump has achieved a historic victory, and many, including myself, need to dine on crow.

One other item: Donald Trump may turn out to be a major president.

I hope I'm not wrong on that one.

Now if I can just find a good crow recipe.

Michael