Trump has just been confirmed as president of the Unites States, and people are shocked since the Polls were saying the opposite previous to election day. He has said so many outrageous, sexist, racist, xenophobic and just generally problematic things that people didn’t think he could win. Many Democrats, liberals and even Republicans can’t understand how previously solid blue states, like the states of the rust belt, could become red states. States like Michigan and Wisconsin weren’t supposed to be up for grabs, but they were. So why have so many people voted for a person such as Trump?
It’s not that people don’t know that he is a sexist, or that he is a racist. They have heard his statements about Mexicans, women, disabled people, gold star families and Muslims. They aren’t oblivious to the fact that Hillary is more experienced or performed better in the debates. They just don’t care.
Trump supporters are aware of his many flaws, but they are willing to look past them because of how much they want change.
They want change, and to as Donald Trump puts it, “Drain the Swamp.” According to CNN, 39% of all voters said change was the most important issue for them, and 83% of Trump’s voters said that. So it is clear that people are tired of Washington.
The issues of terrorism, economy and immigration are the most important for all voters. Foreign policy was unfortunately for Clinton, not as important. Obviously, since Trump just became the president of the United States, people trust him with the issues of immigration, economy and terrorism more. People find these issues so important that they are willing to accept all the other things that Trump has said and done during his campaign. Stability, experience, and other issues that Clinton had as her strong points turned out not mattering as much as people thought.
The “silent Trump voter,” who many said didn’t exist, proved to be a very real thing. Trump won mostly because, white working class, and generally white people, turned out in huge numbers for him. People were so sure that the silent voter didn’t exist since polls hadn’t been able to find them, but obviously, they did exist. There were so many of them that they managed to redraw the electoral map. Leaving many pollsters and media outlets scratching their heads trying to figure out how Trump’s campaign could see something that they all missed.
His voters have a lot of reservations about his experience, temperament, and even doubt if he’s even qualified for the presidency. But white working class Americans are tired of not being heard and fear a future where they are left behind. They believe Trump is the only one that actually hears what they are saying and sees their pain.
All throughout this election people have underestimated Trump and his voters. Saying that the demographics are against him and consistently misjudging what the voters really care about has lead to Trump winning. Despite many of his own party abandoning him and the polls showing that he wouldn’t get to 270, he won, and with a big margin. Nobody understood Trump’s voters in the primaries, or in the general election and that has lead to this unexpected outcome. This is truly a time for pollsters, experts, journalists and American politicians to reevaluate the way that they view the American electorate and what matters to them.
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