2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumCould Hillary have clotheslined her way into the White House?
I know, I know, there's lots of opinions of what Hillary could have done differently - and I do think she should have hit the Rust Belt states a little harder, because that's what sunk her in the Electoral College - but my brother, who leans conservative and libertarian, did have one observation. Part of Hillary's problem, which Republicans amplified and exploited to ridiculous lengths, was that she had trouble relating to many average Joe blue-collar voters. Granted, she won the popular vote, but those votes weren't spread across enough states to matter. Hillary needed to broaden her popular appeal. And that's when my brother mentioned finding this old World Wrestling Entertainment video on YouTube:
Yep, that there is the presumptive 45th President of the United States, Donald John Trump.
When we grew up, we watched the local wrestling circuits on TV. Sure, it was all fake (though there were real accidents from time to time), but it was still a little classic good-vs-evil melodrama for the masses. Then the World Wrestling Federation went national, quickly becoming the 800-pound gorilla in American wrestling. Hulk Hogan, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, Jesse Ventura (former MN Governor), Bret Hart, the Undertaker, Roddy Piper, Triple H - and this guy with the infamous combover.
My brother's take on the video above was that even though he did not vote for Trump in the end, his participation in this WWE event endeared my brother to Trump to a certain extent, making him at least likeable or relatable. "If Hillary Clinton had shown up for Wrestlemania wearing her pantsuit and beat the crap out of somebody in the ring," my brother said, "she would have won the election hands down. Hell, I'd have worn an I'M WITH HER T-shirt every day of the year until Election Day. Because that's how you get attention from average guys, not from being a Senator or Secretary of State. That's how you make people like you."
Honestly, the visual of Hillary clotheslining someone in the ring and then shaving Vince McMahon bald tickles me. Yes, it's spectacle. Yes, it's all show. But, for better or worse, it reaches a lot of people.
Your thoughts?
JHan
(10,173 posts)No I ain't stayin home and bakin no damn cookies...
but that didn't fly then and she's had to masquerade this impulse with a veneer of congeniality even when she's faced with A grade Bullshit.
derby378
(30,261 posts)But yeah, I can't say that I ever faulted her for having an opinion, even in my conservative days.
JHan
(10,173 posts)you know I read an article on Salon I think( I could be wrong) around September featuring #NeverHillary haters and a woman actually mentioned Hillary's cookie comments as a reason she couldn't vote for her in 2016.
....
Yes really.
I don't even know how to respond to a voter like that. I'm gobsmacked.
JHan
(10,173 posts)It still bothered her. A real WTF moment if ever there was one.
HillaryHate is bizarre.
JI7
(90,524 posts)Which is only for white men.
Minorities and women are the elites who hold down white men.
La Lioness Priyanka
(53,866 posts)MFM008
(20,000 posts)Mudwrestling
Rodeo clown?
A POTUS should have a certain degree of dignity,
Despite whomever votes for them.
Don't worry though
Maggot will pig wrestle the office to his level.
Like W.
derby378
(30,261 posts)As we have seen, that applies to politics as well. And until our children decide that our society needs a little civility and grace, we may have to focus on whatever it takes to win the Electoral College.
All the Dems who told me "baby steps" are about to get a harsh lesson in punctuated equilibrium.
MFM008
(20,000 posts)we get to watch the maggot mud wrestle pigs in the oval office.
MadCrow
(155 posts)when Jay Rockefeller was running for Governor. He was at the wrestling matches televised by our local TV station outside of Beckley,
WV. He looked a little out of place, but he showed up. Needless to say he won the election and then went on to become our Senator.
Some people got upset when after Sen. Byrd died, Hillary called him one of her mentors. Sen. Byrd was in Congress for 53 years, and it is true that in the early days he had some ties to the KKK. But Hillary was referring to Sen. Byrd's knowledge of how the Congress works. He knew all the rules and how to get thing done. Up until coming to the Senate Hillary had never held elective office, so Senator Byrd taught her the ropes as it were.
JudyM
(29,517 posts)than Gore.
uponit7771
(91,754 posts)kcr
(15,522 posts)I know that intuitively this seems to make sense. Appeal to everyone and you get more votes. But when politicians actually try to switch around to different personas drastically, it can come across as phony and hurt them. They really have to be careful with that. The idea that a candidate has to have broad appeal in order to win just ins't true. Did Trump make a show of doing anything to show a warmer, softer side? Hardly. And yet he still won the EC.