DRAFTED Wednesday 9th November
When I went to bed at 6am…at the point where it was certain that Donald Trump would be elected. Six hours later…and early reaction appears to be a bad idea. Looking at the reaction of people from Norn Iron…particuarly women…is an exercise in hyperbole.
HELL hath no fury like (a bunch of middle-class Norn Iron) women scorned.
Hillary Clinton did not break the Glass Ceiling.
If it was Women against Men, she would have got 51% of the votes cast
She didnt. Getting the endorsement of Lady Gaga, Meryl Streep and Beyonce did not get her into the White House. That is the world in which Hillary lives.
Her candidacy and her campaign were demonstrations of Arrogance.
She would have been at her peak in 2008 and was unfortunate to run up against Barack Obama, coming in to his prime. Obama was an outsider and the Democratic Party establishment failed to stop him. In 2016, she was past her peak. There was an absence of credible Democratic candidates…only Bernie Sanders and at a stretch, Martin O’Malley emerged as credible rivals.
In the end, she had the might of the machine to crush the Sanders challenge. But the diehard Bernie supporters never warmed to her.
There is an air of entitlement about the Clintons…and the Bush family for that matter. Even thru the prism of the Norn Iron “Peace Process”, it is hard to see how so many people here could not spot a phoney. We need to get past that whole Christmas Tree thing.
I was at a Presidential Election Quiz, hosted by SDLP Youth at Queens University Students Union last night (Tuesday). I voted jokingly for Trump in a mock ballot. Not surprisingly his only vote. But perhaps the real surprise was that most attendees voted for Sanders.
Hillary may or may not have inspired women. She didnt inspire young people.
CErtainly there IS a gender issue.
But lets not pretend that Clinton lost because she is a woman. She lost because she was perceived as an entitled and unpopular person.
A better candidate would have won the Presidency for the Democrats. She may have got votes that Sanders would not have got. But crucially this election was lost in the rust belt states where Sanders did well in his primary campaign.
The charge that she stole the Democratic nomination is hard to dismiss.
And it cost her dearly.
But miscalculating Wisconsin…she never visited. Her campaign assumed it was a “blue state”. She was wrong. It was a juvenile mistake.
So those women crying into their cappuchinos, mochas and lattés in Belfast’s trendy coffee shops need to dry their eyes. Hillary blew it. She might be forgiven by women under forty…they will probably get a new woman (maybe two) to kick at the glass ceiling. Their day will come.
But for a lot of people…there is no Future. So….thanks for that Hillary.
Keeping An Eye On the Czar of Russia 
I think Clinton saw it as a jigsaw putting together different ethnic and interest groups rather than having a vision for the disadvantaged. The Democrats have paid a heavy price.As an SDLP supporter can I just whisper….I don’t think that however much we may disagree with Trump that we should boycott him as President. Hume worked with Carter,Reagan, Bush and Clinton. Not talking means no one hears your voice…
To some extent in a two party system, it is always about putting together a coalition.
Trump had evangelicals, fiscal conservatives, gun advocates, racists etc. But crucially he got votes that he did not expect….or to be honest votes that pollsters did not think he would get.
Clinton under-performed with every single group she went after….latinos, women, blacks, workers.
She could not go beyond her base..and actually lost some of her base.
She was hopeless.
they seem to be blaming each other but they were all at fault.
A jigsaw?
You know what they say about a CAMEL….it is a HORSE designed by a Committee.
And thats what Hillarys campaign was….designed by a committee.
Too much political “professionalism” and not enough “gut feeling”.
There must have been a helluva lot of campaign staffers who thought they were going to be in the West Wing…and they arent.
SDLP? I just dont know.
Their policies seem designed by a Committee so ….at least the Trump decision seems to be a “gut decision”. If Colum doesnt want to be in White House at the whole St Patricks Day thing, then I think hes doing the right thing AS WELL AS being seemingly on the high moral ground.
But the real crunch is relationships with the Belfast Consulate or US Embassy in Dublin and London. The receptions, social inter-action.
I agree about the whole St. Patrick’s Day shindig! If relationships with the Belfast Consulate and Dublin and London Embassies are maintained then I am fine with that!
I bow to your wiser counsel as usual.
By the way, it is great to have your comments back again.
Thanks for saying this.
To be honest, I dont feel very wise these days. This is a world I dont inderstand at all.
I think Eastwood should be commended for his principled stand – it will not be an easy position, already being sneered at by SF & the DUP but it is consistent and correct. The comments on Mexicans, women, Pope Francis and many others were nothing less than a disgrace. If some of us made such remarks and incited such vitriol we would rightly lose our jobs – not be rewarded with a new job and such overweening power.
I agree but in fairness, Colum can take this stand because SDLP is not in Government.
A lot of people (including SF voters) were talking about this yesterday and Everyone seemed to think Colum is right on this. Its a gut reaction rather than a considered reaction.
But its hard to look at the Trump team assemble and not feel disgust.
Gangsters and reprobates – Christie, Giuliani and Gingrich. God help us!
I think they have dropped Christie.
But as I said…the real winner is Pence. The Republicans will want a Republican in the White House. In many ways Pence is worse than Trump.
But sooner or later the Republicans need to sieze back the initiative from populists. Trump will either be ousted or get bored before 2020.
I think …
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Hilary Clinton’s contribution to the peace process is huge. During the GFA negotiations she played a very important role in giving hope to marginalized women. It is a bad thing for the GFA not to have her as President.
Even if you are not over-stating the case, it is two decades ago.
Her non-election is irrelevant to Norn Iron.
The Good Friday Agreement is already a dead duck.
The DUP-Sinn Féin one party state has been in existence for several years already and the corruption at the heart of it…whether for business men or “community workers” is now a fixture.
Likewise the marginalision of Victims.
It is dead.