Election

I’ve seen a bit of self-righteous posturing about ‘undemocratic’ whining over the election result. I think the protests that are going on are mostly, but not completely, unproductive and the violence completely counter-productive, but it’s important not to forget a few key features from this election: 1) Trump got a minority of votes – the majority of voters rejected him; 2) Clinton got more votes than Trump; 3) neither candidate got a majority. In many countries this would mean a run-off election so someone got a 50% + 1 mandate. In this country we have the electoral college system, which overrules the popular vote so a run-off is not considered as long as someone gets 270. The founders had a pretty rational reason for the electoral college system, so large more densely populated states couldn’t consistently dominate smaller states in elections, and for them as a compromise between direct popular election and election by ‘qualified’ electors. It’s time may be past – that’s a debate worth having – but the result is what it is this time round. Resistance has to take a different direction than protesting the election.

It’s also true that if the result had gone the other way we would surely be seeing much shouting, protesting, and likely violence over the ‘rigged’ system.

American democracy has long been overrated, as all kinds of undemocratic influences have impinged on elections, notably but not only big money, but this was one of the most undemocratic elections I’ve witnessed, with outside influences playing an outsize role, and lies and distortion and character assassination featuring far more than policy or issues – far more than the normal abysmally high level. No one should brag about, or be too satisfied about the result.

Some humility is called for given the facts above. Humility is not likely to come from Trump, since the concept is nowhere in his constitution, but it should come from his fans (Hillary’s too).