Many say that it is a mystery how Donald Trump got elected. There's a long list of things people like to blame for Trump's win: white supremacy, sexism, homophobia, Gary Johnson voters, and so on. However, my theory is that one of the main factors behind Trump's victory is that the Democratic party simply lost the middle class, especially blue-collar voters. Now let me be perfectly clear; this article is neither pro nor anti-Trump. I will be focusing less on why Trump won the election and more on why Clinton lost.
What was really interesting about the 2016 presidential election was how Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders were almost parallel in their target audiences. While Trump and Sanders had very different platforms, they both targeted people who felt disenfranchised by the leadership in their respective parties. Trump often focused on blue-collar workers who were struggling to find work while Sanders focused on college students who were struggling to pay off student loans.
My theory is that Sanders could have won. After Martin O'Malley dropped out of the Democratic primary, only two candidates remained. There was Clinton, someone who was deeply entrenched in the Democratic party and had a shady reputation, and there was Sanders, someone who was officially not a member of the Democratic party but had Democratic leanings. Sanders was an outsider. He was someone different. It seemed like he would easily have won the nomination, but he didn't. Thus, Americans were put in a tough situation. Clinton or Trump? For many, the decision was almost impossible to make. Both candidates seemed incredibly unlikable. However, the outcome of the election is not as surprising as some might think. Like him or not, Trump had something that Clinton did not; much of Trump's campaign was directed towards Americans who were tired of Republican elites much like how Sanders focused on Americans who were tired of Democratic elites. If it had been Sanders instead of Clinton who had gotten the nomination, the Democratic party would have had a much greater chance of winning the general election.
What does this mean for the future of the Democratic and Republican parties? From what occurred in the 2016 presidential election, it is clear that both parties are in need of reform. Both Democrats and Republicans have grown tired of career politicians that care more about special interest groups than the American people. Hopefully, this election was a wake up call for both Democratic and Republican leaders.
