Imagine a reality television star and businessman famous for insulting those who aired on his show becoming President. This happened on November 6, 2017, when Republican Donald J. Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States. This election was closely watched by the entirety of the Western world.
The general election, between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton, was unusual because a businessman and reality television star with no relevant political experience was running against a female former First Lady of the United States, United States Senator and the United States Secretary of State.
President Trump’s election is a concrete example of how elections function in a democratic society. The United States Constitution allows for someone with no relevant political experience to run for office. Trump and his campaign appealed to voters in this election with the idea of distancing from the typical and “corrupt” Washington D.C. political insider.
“The election of Donald Trump was fueled in part by a sense of disenfranchisement and economic marginalization.”
This reaffirms the population’s disenfranchisement with the American government. Others have voiced their beliefs on why Donald Trump was elected as President as well.
“Trump found a theme, and, with it, an enthusiastic constituency that enabled him to take over the Republican Party and thereafter succeeded in bringing most Republican voters who opposed his nomination into the fold.”
Trump’s theme of “Make America Great Again” resided well with many of these disenfranchised voters.
Some believe that Donald Trump secured the Republican nomination by insulting his way through the primaries and gaining the attention of the mass media.
“Third, Trump effectively ‘insulted his way to the nomination,’ ... making disparaging comments about women, feeding widespread perceptions of bigotry, racism, and misogyny.”
This poses the question of how this man was able to make these comments and still be elected to the office. A vast number of people regard this election and the Republican capture of votes in distaste.
“Candidate Donald J. Trump appealed to prejudices and stereotypes, was uninformed on the details of policy, had a wild disregard for facts, and made dreadful tweets and statements about almost anyone who criticized him, including that his Democratic candidate should be jailed, called her the devil, and alluded that others might assassinate her.”
Donald Trump and the Republican Party spun a successful narrative during this campaign in which Trump himself was the hero.
“And then along came Trump. He cast his run for the Presidency in the shape of an old-fashioned capacity narrative ... casting himself as the hero of the narrative that he spun.”
People feel that the campaign run by the Republican Party was more successful in persuading voters than that of the Democrats and Hillary Clinton. Secretary Clinton had a negative stigma attached to her in part because of both the Benghazi and e-mail scandals that occurred during her tenure as United States Secretary of State. She is also linked to the Whitewater real estate disaster and "Travelgate."
I️ personally feel that the Republican Party and Donald Trump were able to successfully gain votes because of their use of the mass media and their signature campaign slogan. I️ think that a majority of voters in this election were repulsed by “corrupt” Washington politics and were enticed by the promises of this American nonconformist candidate.
Trump immediately drew the attention of the mass media who were shocked by his candidacy. I️ think this led to an intensified media coverage of Trump’s campaign and exposed him to a wide array of voters.
I️ believe the Republicans were able to capture the votes of the undecided voters in this election. Many were unsure of who to vote for because they disliked both Mr. Trump and Mrs. Clinton; however, they still felt obliged to perform their civic duty.
The Republicans appealed to many of the non-educated, white male voters. Minority groups, such as Latinos, African-Americans and the LGBT community opposed the election of Trump. However, the population of white male voters still reigns supreme in the United States.
Overall, the methods of President Donald Trump and the RNC to earn votes in the 2016 presidential election proved to be effective, and they will have to instill these methods once again in 2020.
