The reasons Hillary lost!

To my fellow liberals who continue to blame the Electoral College for Trump's win Tuesday, I ask you a few simple questions. Was it not the same Electoral College that Obama was elected by in 2008? Was it not the Same system that saw Obama reelected in 2012? As well was it not the same Electoral College that as of the morning of November 8th we all thought would sweep Hillary Clinton to victory? The answer is yes, yes it is. It just so happens it didn't work out for us this time. It's with much trepidation that I look to our future, but at the same time I reflect on the real reasons Mr. Trump became President-Elect Trump and the hope I have for the future of our great nation. Trump's win was not caused by the Electoral College that much I feel certain, so let's stop that train right there. The reasons for Trump's shocking win are 3 fold...

1. Polling data did not really take into account the frustration of Americans of both the far left and moderate to far right were feeling over the email issues from Hillary Clinton's time at the state department and the perception that she got away with it because of her elite status with-in Washington D.C.

2. Benghazi no matter how many facts pointing to no wrong doing by Hillary Clinton in the attacks that day, many especially active and retired military personnel held her personally responsible for the deaths of the Ambassador and the four soldiers who were killed on that tragic day. Again this anger was not showing up in the polling data.

3. This is most important on why Clinton lost this election as I see it. The economy has been getting better but not for everyone. There are groups of folks across the nation that were feeling ignored, marginalized if you will, in this new economy. In the Rust Belt for example the jobs from steel mills left the country as people started getting cheaper steel from China. These people were seemingly left out in the cold by the establishment. The feeling that the establishment elite had forgotten them made the allure of an outsider, promising to bring those jobs back, look like a knight in shining armor.

Trump was able to tap into the above fears, anger and frustrations to a level that few would have thought possible, even Trump himself. If you have one candidate saying yes the jobs your families have worked for generations and is all you've ever known are gone, but we will drag you a long with training for a new industry or one who says they will bring your old livelihood back, which would you choose?

The answers to this shocking loss for Hillary will not be found by running away to Canada or by ending the Electoral College. The answers will only be found through reflecting on what we did as a party to make these folks feel so left out and marginalized and repair it.

As for my hopes...

I hope we unite as "One Nation Indivisible". I hope we give our new president a chance to do the right things to help all Americans. I hope we as a nation will come together on all fronts from racial and sexuality issues to issues of income inequality. I hope to see this economy keep improving for all Americans, not just the few it has to this point. One idea that comes to mind based on an article I read a few days ago, By Patrick Thornton, if you are a liberal speak to some conservatives and conservatives talk to some liberals. If we can listen without judgement we might learn a thing or two and might even help us come together as "One Nation Indivisible".

JM Keck