Wow! From the urban centers to the rural communities of the USA, from capitals of the developed world to the small corners of poor countries, like no other, the American 2016 presidential campaign took the world by the jugular. The ups and downs, the exaggerations, boisterous pronouncements, the media impact (which for the most part was also caught off guard), the cable TV pundits and surrogates… We were thoroughly amazed at the unfolding of events. There was serious entertainment as one side of the campaign had promised us, for good or bad. There were unending turns and thistles until the very end. Institutions like the FBI once considered revered, if not sacred, were dragged into publicly defending their invisibility. Not to be left behind and as if the pulse of the campaign was not high pressure enough, then came the influence peddling by the Russian leadership and its willing accomplice, the London’s Ecuador-embassy holed Wikileaks.

Each one of the issues listed above is sufficient to provide book titles and I am sure political scientists and students will pursue that in earnest. 

My immediate conclusion is that, should Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, win tomorrow and becomes the first female President of the USA, it will be easy to see that although her victory was forseen and predicted long ago, her road to the oval office would be war-like. It was not going to be easy for a woman to become the first POTUS, except for the grace of God. When men run on both sides, it is always girating and suspenseful. But when a woman runs against a man who enjoys near 100% name recognition, it would be acrimonious and unravelling. At the end of the day, it may just mean that the acrimony and pain of the election was not deep-seated if indeed Mr. Donald J Trump loses. 

The talk about his supporters going up in arms if he lost won’t happen because they will realize the reality of their candidate’s insufficient and lackluster planning both before and during the campaign even when it was pointed out to him. Donald Trump mostly hinged his campaign on crowded rallies and filled up arenas. He relished being in front of the crowds thinking that this was a good measure of popularity and winning strategy. He didn’t buy the notion of doing the fundermentals appropriate for election into the office of the President.

On the other side, Mrs. Clinton got herself into enormous trouble which ordinarily should have knocked her out or at least down in a way that regular contesters would find difficult to recover from. Yet, with the state of her opponent, she suffered retribution which I consider appropriate for her “sins”. Hillary is by all means a complex woman who is very intelligent and calculating. She and her campaign, dubbed the “Clinton machine” knew when to attack and when to retreat. They operate within the margins of the law although their adversaries think they step into the gray areas of ethics and honesty. 

The deciding factors in the 2016 election were not the issues we have come to expect from the two leading political parties. They were not the traditional liberal versus conservative ideologies that we are used to. Pure and simple, 2016 was the year of the individual. The issues were supplanted by the qualities of the contestants. Both Trump and Clinton received high negative public opinions which are the worst between two candidates in the nation’s history. But at the end of the day, it will be the question of who has the temperament to serve as the President. It will be who can be an acceptable choice of two bad options. It will be who got better prepared and kept her cool when the going got rough versus one who was easily bated time after time. It will be one of who could be or not be trusted with the nuclear code. It won’t be whose tax plans and renewable energy ideas appeal to the electorate the most but who will be a better role model. 

If indeed Mrs. Clinton goes on to win, I duff my hat to her and her long-term approach, her dugged attitude and resilience. Congrats Madam President. (This post was written the day before the election and will be revised once we know who wins).