The Trump-tastic year 

A Trump-tastic year.

November 8, 2016.  Vancouver, BC.

I went to bed before the official results came in, before Donald Trump stunned the political system, the pundits, and the world with his sweeping Republican win.

Call him whatever you want: racist, misogynist, a blowhard. He was called everything and anything since winning the Republican nomination. That he persevered through so much negativity –even from within his own party – is what blows my mind.

DESPITE THE ODDS, HE DID IT

For months I watched Trump get slammed over and over: African Americans and Hispanics were outraged and would never vote for him; CNN told me, with conviction, he lost every debate; every blonde floozy came out of the woodwork and claimed Trump groped them. It was endless….and still, he won.

While Clinton supporters mourn, the majority of Facebook posts are in ‘outrage’ over his win, and the markets have bounced back from their huge late night selloff, I’m wondering what all the fuss was about.

A CANADIAN PERSPECTIVE

As Canadians, we have a unique and generally conciliatory relationship with our southern neighbour. We have the most liberties of any Nationality within that country and everything from their entertainment to their politics dominates our culture. Or, the stark truth: their culture is our culture.

I don’t deny the state of American politics has been in shambles for years. The four year cycle prompts vicious infighting and jockeying for position and doesn’t foster any long term vision. As a result, infrastructure in the US is crumbling, the haves are squeezing out the have -nots and the population is disillusioned. This disillusionment has played out in a very interesting way in the past three elections and George W gets credit for starting this disturbing post election trend.

After his (debatable) win against Al Gore in 2000, Americans flooded the online classified website Craigslist, offering to pay upwards of $100,000 to marry a Canadian and get the hell out of dodge. (As an entrepreneur, I did toy with the concept of “Polygamy for Profit”, although cooler heads did prevail.)

This same scenario played out in 2004 when W defeated John Kerry. Americans wanted out.

Last night, as Trump was heading towards the most improbable US election victory, as the futures and currency markets were going ballistic, the Canadian immigration site crashed as thousands of Americans yet again were doing what they could do to flee.

THE REALITY

Does everyone really think Clinton would have changed so much?

Do I think Trump will change the system? No. Do I think he will be the best president ever? No?

So, why did I support him?

He proved it’s possible for an outside candidate, someone outside of the internal cogs of the ‘system’, to come from behind and win. Isn’t that the very foundation of the American dream? The foundation America claims is part of its greatness?

This is what puzzles me. Trump was everything America stands for, yet America didn’t want him (or so we were told).

Hillary, in theory had everything on her side: the media, Obama, even George W – a REPUBLICAN, said he would vote for her. And she still lost.

I was surprised at how partisan the commentators on CNN were last night as results were flooding in. Today, their real colours are showing. None of them even expected a Trump win.

Nobody did.

And that’s why I think his story is so awesome.