The Unexpected US Presidential Election Result

By Prof Dr Jayum Jawan KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- Most pollsters and political analysts should go back to school because the tools of the trade they had learnt have become very rusty. They missed out on an important event and were unable to see what was coming at the 2016 US Presidential Election. Most of them predicted that former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, would win because she had the necessary experience and was the favourite of the establishment as well as the powerful US media. She has it all. In the words of Trump himself, all these pundits were "wroong". On the other hand, Donald Trump is the new kid on the block. He has no experience in public office and probably knew as much about US politics, domestic as well as foreign, as the next kid on the street. That was why many did not take Trump’s foray into the presidential election seriously and thought that when the race heated up, he would simply drop off along the way because a serious Republican candidate would have emerged to dominate the race for the party’s nomination for US president. But as the results had shown, that was far from it. Trump not only secured his party nomination as the Republican candidate for US president, but he went on to create an upset by winning the US presidential race on Nov 8. Protests aside, on Jan 20, 2017 Donald Trump will assume the office of the President of the United States, the most powerful position on the planet. So, what was the magic that did it for Donald Trump? First of all, Trump spat it out like it is. He talked to the common people and in plain language that they understood. Any Tom, Dick and Harry on the street understood what Trump wanted to do for them and their country. He spoke from his heart while his opponent used “politically” correct and vague terms that Americans have often heard. Second, Trump wanted to make America great again. Again, this message was simple and resonated well with the common people who were facing life’s challenges such as high unemployment, rising cost of living, expensive healthcare system, peace and security issues, and external threats. Trump promised to address all these uncertainties in an unequivocal and direct manner; his opponent, in comparison, couched her messages in politically correct terms, mindful of the fact that her responses could hurt the feeling of the US allies. Thus the main difference in their approaches was that while Trump spoke to the American people who mattered in the elections, Hillary attempted to please all, including those who could not help her win the race to the White House. Third, there was really no big deal about Trump’s proposal to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. This was interpreted literally and his utterance was not seen in its proper context. It was politicised and dramatised as well as distorted. All countries have their “walls”. This is the immigration line that divides countries and which stipulates conditions for movement across them. Trump was referring to this. This is an issue that all countries have to manage in order to secure their security, integrity and sovereignty. Thus, what Trump wanted to do was what was already being done all along, albeit more stringently since security in the US after the Sept 11 attacks has not reduced threats to its peace and security. Trump addressed the issues that concerned the Americans, while Clinton played to the world gallery. Fourth, there was also nothing unusual in Trump’s pledge to review ties, especially economic ties, with US' foreign partners in order to ensure that trade relations with the US benefit both parties and not just one party only. He repeatedly mentioned China as well as some Latin American nations when he said that the US, under his leadership, would review the terms of economic relations so that the nation will not be unduly disadvantaged. So, Trump wanted to build economic relations, while his opponent wanted to continue to use economics to play politics. Last, the majority of the American voters must have believed that Trump’s success in making billions of dollars is an asset. He repeatedly said that if he can be successful, make lots of money and build his business empire, he must be smart and that his smartness can be used to make America great and to benefit the people. On this note, Clinton did not have much to show in terms of success; instead she had to rely on the legacy of President Obama under whom she had served as Secretary of State. Obviously, the voters were not that impressed. Trump’s success in business cannot be more clearer and well-articulated by the man himself in many of the speeches he made during his campaigns, including during his encounter with Clinton in the presidential debates. However, many distractions in attempts to derail this message failed because he prided in himself for his ability to use the system to stay afloat when business was bad, and rise to success again. The United States under Trump will not turn out to be the kind of nation many people in America and around the world are fearing because of the many harsh terms that he had used during his presidential campaign. These terms have been unduly interpreted beyond the meaning and context of the language uttered by a non-political man. As soon as he was declared the winner, he was already seen making an attempt to speak and embrace politically-correct terms to signal how he will proceed to lead the US, at home and abroad. The first 100 days will set the tone of his government for the next four years. Americans who had expressed concern about having a president who lacks public experience can rest easy because first, the US government is bigger than any single man, and second, he will be surrounded, as have presidents before him, by a team of the world’s best professionals and technocrats to ensure that the American dream continues to flourish and that America continues to be the world leader. (The writer, Prof Dr Jayum Jawan, is the holder of the Tun Abdul Razak Chair and visiting political science professor at the University of Ohio in the United States. He can be contacted at jawan@ohio.edu) --BERNAMA