Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Backward and Forward

It's one week before the Pennsylvania Primary, or more accurately, the municipal election...  and we're still talking about Vote 16.  I suspect we'll be talking about the past for quite a while.  One book is already out, and there are more to follow.  No surprises there.  It was a fascinating election.

Hillary Clinton recently said she takes responsibility for her loss, but she also said FBI director James Comey and the Russians played roles.  Clinton added that if the election was October 27, she would be president today.

Let's look at this a little more closely.  It's clear the Russians did something, but remember Clinton easily won the popular vote.  That tells me a bad campaign, rather than the Russians, played a bigger role.  The political experts say Clinton didn't have a clear message and she spent time and money in the wrong states.  You can't blame the Russians for that.

As for the FBI investigation into Clinton's private email server...  We;;, if Clinton didn't set up that server as Secretary of State, none of this ever would have happened.  No server, no investigation.  Again, the political experts say the server was set up for one reason-- to circumvent established procedure.

The red flags should have gone up long before November.  Clinton couldn't put away Bernie Sanders until very late in the primary season.  Democrats had a flawed candidate.  So did Republicans.  Trump was simply more successful in conveying his message.

To go a little further, I think Clinton sealed her fate when she called Trump supporters a "basket of deplorables."

I'm in a very competitive business.  It would be suicidal to call people who get their news from other sources "deplorables."  What if Walmart called Target shoppers "deplorables?"  Would you ever set foot in a Walmart after that?

The "deplorables" line will go down in political history as one of the worst ever.

As for next week's election, it will be here before you know it.  Our friends at the newspapers have been doing a great job of profiling candidates and looking at issues.  Read up and vote May 16.