President Donald J. Trump Didn’t Win on Competence or Character
By Richard Helppie
March 29, 2020
Donald J. Trump did not win the election for the Presidency of the United States based on his competence or his character – which frustrates the vocal and particularly the emotionally charged critics every time his incompetence and / or character flaws are on display. As I’ve written many times, candidate Trump and now President Trump is unprepared for the office of the presidency, shows little interest in learning the full job, and has massive personal issues. Even his successes are painful.
President Trump, in my opinion, won because of voters being fed up by the performance of their Federal Government and the media echo chamber. Unable to get the attention of those in Washington, D.C. to serve them, voters were seeking to send a message that they weren’t happy with the status quo. To further bolster this view, and at grave – make that assured risk- of upsetting the strong supporters of Mr. Trump’s immediate predecessor, the 2008 election of President Barack Obama followed similar fault lines in the electorate. President Obama, a man with electric oratory skills, very little legislative experience and no visible management experience bested long-time establishment Senators Clinton (primary) and McCain (general election) with a message of change.
President Trump brushed off a broad field of contenders in the 2016 primary. His clear message was that he wasn’t a Washington establishment type, would not play by the same rules and rudely embraced a caustic approach to the game of politics. Not missing a beat after his primary win, Trump’s major party opponent in the general election represented the pure establishment opponent he relished. The 2016 election played out on terms favorable to Mr. Trump in this contest – his opponent was a Washington insider.
The 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign played perfectly into this narrative, to Mr. Trump’s benefit. Despite boasting about 25 years in public service, the Clinton campaign could not name a single accomplishment that benefitted other people. Along with the venal connections with the Clinton non-profit groups, the Trump campaign’s message of Washington needing a disruptive outside force was reinforced.
The Clinton Campaign tried the competence comparison with the 3AM phone call ads. Turns out, we know what President Trump is doing at 3AM. And we also know that he seems to think that crisis management is a game show, photo op, or campaign rally. However, Hillary Clinton could not make headway against her track record of callous disregard, from the abandonment of low birthweight babies in her disastrous health care legislative attempt, to her candid remarks of not being responsible for every (small) undercapitalized business in America to the astonishing “what difference does it make” when talking about friends, colleagues and direct reports being murdered on the job.
Finally, who, in their right mind, would think that calling out Donald Trump’s scandalous conduct and language was a great strategy for Hillary Clinton? Whomever came up with the character attack was probably one of about 5 people in America who could not see how President Bill Clinton’s behavior in office would not be dragged back into the limelight, along with reminding women of America that the candidate is widely viewed as an enabler of a serial abuser and a person who publicly slut-shamed a 23-year old young woman.
America, with eyes wide open, elected a disruptive candidate.