Countdown to Extinction: The 2016 Presidential Election

[Brian]

You quote my joke, and yet...

oh man I really missed that one, huh.

[Jo498]

What I find surprising is that voter turnout was rather low, considering how important the election was supposed to be. Probably one reason is that so many people had the impression of voting for the "lesser evil" at best, so they could not be bothered to vote at all.

edit: no idea how the measures mentioned above would contribute. That this is even possible is something I cannot understand. Unless you are homeless or not properly registered (and unless you have moved recently you usually would be) in Germany you receive an invitation to vote per mail. Admittedly, I have only lived in small or medium sized towns but I have never waited for more than  a few minutes to vote. Having to register in advance (I realize that this is partly due to the fact that otherwise people are not registered at all? in the US) and wait in line for an hour or more looks really strange for a First World Country.

[The new erato]

"The country" is in a mess. Wake up Aussie!

I'm not afraid of an America that is "great" again. I'm afraid of a president that messes its foreign relations up, and of an US electorate that discovers that the problems are far more complex and ingrained into the system than they have dreamt of, and that people like Donald are part of the problem far more than they are part of the solution.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

The good news is, we probably won't get World War III, at least not any time soon.

The bad news is, we're probably on the road to Civil War II.

[Jo498]

The good news is, we probably won't get World War III, at least not any time soon.

The bad news is, we're probably on the road to Civil War II.

While not wishing the latter upon you, as a European I'd prefer it to the first option.
(And while I was too young most of the time to realize it, I lived my childhood in the 1970s and 80s really underneath the shadow of WW III. I lived only about an hour or two by car from the "Fulda gap" and the East German border, so in case of a war it would have been either Russian tanks within a few hours or (more probable and more devastating) NATO nuclear strikes to stop these tanks.)

[Gurn Blanston]

I'm not afraid of an America that is "great" again. I'm afraid of a president that messes its foreign relations up, and of an US electorate that discovers that the problems are far more complex and ingrained into the system than they have dreamt of, and that people like Donald are part of the problem far more than they are part of the solution.

That nicely encapsulates my own POV. Simple IS better, except when the problems are complex. If they were simple, George W would have solved them.

The good news is, we probably won't get World War III, at least not any time soon.

The bad news is, we're probably on the road to Civil War II.

Yup. I hate good news/bad news.   OTOH, we have been heading to Civil War II for quite a long time. We are so painfully divided in this country, between the haves and have nots, the colored and the pink, the Xtian and the non-Xtian (of whatever stripe), and all the other dichotomous differences you can list, that a sorting out seems to be inevitable.   

[Herman]

One of the most poignant things is the way he concluded his last rally as a candidate, in Grand Rapids, Mich, past midnight, Monday.

He leaned into the mike, as he sometimes does, to act if it's just him and you, and thanked the people, thanked them again, advising them to "go to bed now".

You could hear, the way he spoke, he thought it was all over now. He could go back to his former, easier life. And Hillary would do whatever they're doing in the White House.

I have a hard time imaging he'll do the full four years.

And Pence in control is not going to be a whole lot better....

[ahinton]

One of the most poignant things is the way he concluded his last rally as a candidate, in Grand Rapids, Mich, past midnight, Monday.

He leaned into the mike, as he sometimes does, to act if it's just him and you, and thanked the people, thanked them again, advising them to "go to bed now".

You could hear, the way he spoke, he thought it was all over now. He could go back to his former, easier life. And Hillary would do whatever they're doing in the White House.

I have a hard time imaging he'll do the full four years.

And Pence in control is not going to be a whole lot better....

Pence don't buy much.

By the way, has it occurred to anyone on the other side of the pond that the result was declared on 9/11?

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I'm not surprised by this outcome, because the "enthusiasm gap" was so palpable. Trump rallies were like rock concerts; Hillary rallies were like being lectured by a high school principal. HRC published a book just before the election, but almost nobody bought it.

A big tell for me was HRC's rally at Temple University in Philadelphia. Temple is a big university in a very Democratic city, but they couldn't get enough people to fill an auditorium the size of a high school gym. You'd think thousands of Democrats would come out to see their next President, but it didn't happen.

Bernie's rallies by contrast were full of enthusiasm, totally unlike Hillary's. You'd think that would have told the DNC something, but no, it was "her turn."

The mainstream media and the pollsters have enough egg on their face to make a good-sized omelet. They totally failed in their duty of prognostication and analysis.

The most accurate forecaster I'm aware of is Scott "Dilbert" Adams. Many Clintonites dismissed him as a stealth Trump propagandist, but his predictions were scarily accurate, throughout the campaign. Here's his summing up this morning:

http://blog.dilbert.com/post/152955248046/i-answer-your-questions-about-predicting-president

[zamyrabyrd]

I thought Clinton's concession was gracious and the right thing to say:
"I still believe in America and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future," said Clinton, at times choking back emotion. "Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead."

subtext: "Don't prosecute me".

[zamyrabyrd]

I'm not surprised by this outcome, because the "enthusiasm gap" was so palpable. Trump rallies were like rock concerts; Hillary rallies were like being lectured by a high school principal. HRC published a book just before the election, but almost nobody bought it.
A big tell for me was HRC's rally at Temple University in Philadelphia. Temple is a big university in a very Democratic city, but they couldn't get enough people to fill an auditorium the size of a high school gym. You'd think thousands of Democrats would come out to see their next President, but it didn't happen.
Bernie's rallies by contrast were full of enthusiasm, totally unlike Hillary's. You'd think that would have told the DNC something, but no, it was "her turn."

Exactly, what she did to Bernie was nasty, getting the questions in advance of their own debate and unethical, too. Against Trump he would have had more than a chance and could have won. Unfortunately, The Democrats have to eat now what they cooked.

[ahinton]

I thought Clinton's concession was gracious and the right thing to say:

"I still believe in America and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future," said Clinton, at times choking back emotion. "Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead."

I suppose that there wasn't a whole lot else that she could say but it provides yet another curious parallel to the aftermath of the UK/EU in/out referendum omnishambles of a few months ago; the principal difference there is that there are several legal challenges in the pipeline.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

Another prognosticator who got everything right was Prof. Allan Lichtman. He has accurately predicted every presidential election since 1984, using his "keys" system of analysis. Details here:

https://pollyvote.com/en/components/index-models/keys-to-the-white-house/

[(poco) Sforzando]

Exactly, what she did to Bernie was nasty, getting the questions in advance of their own debate and unethical, too. Against Trump he would have had more than a chance and could have won. Unfortunately, The Democrats have to eat now what they cooked.

And are you ever going to let go of this? She lost. Be happy. Now your guy has to deliver the goods, and whatever crooked Hillary did or did not do doesn't matter squat.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Another prognosticator who got everything right was Prof. Allan Lichtman. He has accurately predicted every presidential election since 1984, using his "keys" system of analysis. Details here:

https://pollyvote.com/en/components/index-models/keys-to-the-white-house/

Actually, Andrew Sullivan was calling it for Trump already with the third debate, and when I saw him on Chris Hayes/MSNBC about ten days ago, he predicted Trump again.

[North Star]

subtext: "Don't prosecute me".

Yes, nothing beats graciousness.

[Spineur]

Also, the stock market's collapse based on overnight futures predictions never happened.  Currently the DOW is at 18,505.76 +173.02.  Of course this could change, but I am glad the markets seem to be keeping their collective head.

There is a strong correlation between the president color and market performance.  The gist of the argument is that the imminence of a recession favors republican whereas economic expansion favors democrats.  This was a close race so there is probably plenty of time. Anyway, the lame duck period until january is a good one to sell...

[Karl Henning]

The markets don't like uncertainty, and the election result was a great surprise.

[James]

I'm not afraid of an America that is "great" again. I'm afraid of a president that messes its foreign relations up, and of an US electorate that discovers that the problems are far more complex and ingrained into the system than they have dreamt of, and that people like Donald are part of the problem far more than they are part of the solution.

He's not a career politician, so he never created the problems, he's a private sector man .. and things were way messed up before Trump got elected. He signed up for this though and now he and his cohorts have A LOT of work to do. And he's only got 4 years. Not an easy job. We'll have to see what happens ..

[André]