Election 2016: How Donald Trump And The Deplorables Won And Made Political History

By John Kinsellagh

How could this be happening? That was the question asked by stunned Hillary supporters all over the country on election night. A reality TV star was beating a woman whose place in history was supposedly foreordained. The coronation was on hold; the triumphant return to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, now in doubt. One by one, as key states were called for Trump during the night and the electoral votes tallied inexorably in his favor, the faces of the news anchors, commentators and reporters from the unabashedly pro-Hillary media turned ashen, drawn. Shell shocked, they gazed into the camera. When they spoke, there was disbelief in their plaintive voices. Some, spoke in hushed, somber tones, as if they had just been notified that a close family member had died. Hillary was supposed to banish the Republicans to the hinterland where they would wander aimlessly for a generation. What went wrong? Given all that was known about Trump, how could anyone vote for him? How did "expert" political analysts, commentators and pundits completely miss the rise of Trump and why, during the election, despite his string of victories, did they continue to argue, that like a comet, he would eventually burn out? In Election 2016: How Donald Trump and the Deplorables Won and Made Political History, John Kinsellagh addresses these questions from a unique perspective. The book's analysis is predicated on the self-evident proposition that because each of the candidates was seriously flawed, in the end, the question for many voters became: who was the least distasteful?The book avoids responding to the contention that since Hillary was, by leaps and bounds, clearly superior and eminently more qualified for the Oval Office than Trump, the election result was a fluke. Any meaningful analysis of the election based on such a proposition is a fool's errand as it simply begs the question, and does nothing to enhance our understanding of why, in the end, it was Trump and not Clinton who prevailed. Kinsellagh presents an evaluation of how both candidates were perceived by the public and he conducts a thorough analysis of why the outcome was so unforeseen. Election 2016 looks at the damaging revelations concerning Hillary's rogue and clandestine email server as well as the incestuous relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the influence-peddling that occurred while Hillary was the nation's chief diplomat. The book discusses how these sordid revelations reinforced voters' prior perceptions of Hillary's limitless capacity for dissembling and chicanery.Additional topics of significance are examined: What impact did identity politics have on the ability of Democratic party officials to assess honestly the viability of Hillary's candidacy? The Clintons capacity for disreputable behavior was well known to the party. Given these shortcomings, why did leaders of the Democratic Party believe Hillary would be a shoo-in? The converse is discussed as well: given all that was known about Trump, how could he possibly have been elected? How could a political novice so easily dispatch the establishment favorite of the Republican Party with an unlimited war chest? Why didn't Trump implode as predicted? Why did GOP primary voters continue to vote for Trump knowing his foibles and deviant behavior? Finally, Election 2016, approaches these issues from the perspective of the state of the country at the time of the election, the deep undercurrents of disenchantment with elites as well as how the transformation of each of the two political parties, created the conditions favorable for the election of a political neophyte.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1973151758
• ISBN13: 9781973151753
• Release Date: October 2017
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 220 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.0"