Flipping Washington The Bird

by Jim Staudt, PhD, CFA

Copyright, 2016

Donald Trump’s victory was unexpected. Some of my Democrat friends (who are in a state of shock) claim that this is a case of racism or White Nationalism. This is a mistake on their part. While I'm sure that there were some racists among the 59+ million people who voted for Mr. Trump, there were simply too many Americans who voted for Mr. Trump to blame it entirely on racism or White Nationalism.  Some polls show that college educated women, a group that Mr. Trump was expected to do poorly with, voted for Mr. Trump at a rate of 45%.  That is much higher than I expected given that his opponent was an extremely smart and accomplished woman.

My opinion is that the Democrats ignored the fact that a lot of Americans have suffered from economic policies put in place by both major parties over the past several decades that enriches Wall Street and big business at the expense of Main Street. These policies have hollowed out the American middle class and left us with wealth disparity that exceeds that of any country one might want to live in.  Hillary Clinton is viewed – rightly or wrongly (rightly, in my opinion) – as part of the political system that created those policies. Many Americans are weary of Washington and feel powerless against the forces that have controlled the two major political parties for several decades. Our government has grown increasingly detached from the people it governs, creating what many would consider a ruling elite.

Bernie Sanders would likely have defeated Mr. Trump. But, Senator Sanders, if elected president, would have upset the economic order that funds both political parties, which is why the DNC worked against him and for Hillary Clinton. After Bernie Sanders lost the Democratic nomination, voting for Donald Trump became the only viable option people had to give the middle finger to the political status quo.

The Democrats need to do a great deal of self-reflection.  They were once the party of the working class.  While the GOP has long been the party of big business, since the 1980s the Democrats have also become the party of big business.  As manufacturing jobs went overseas and private sector labor unions grew weak, the Democrats sidled up to Wall Street and big business to remain competitive. The result is that neither party represents Main Street any more, which is why there was a populist revolt in both parties.  In this case the GOP picked the populist candidate while the Democratic Party held on to the status quo, and the populist candidate won.  This is how Donald Trump made it to the White House.

Let's hope that Mr. Trump is up to the job.

Jim Staudt