Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal
I was wrong, but I was in good company. I never thought billionaire businessman Donald J. Trump could be elected president, but that’s what happened Tuesday and I congratulate the winner. Trump defied all expectations and predictions by proving yours truly, almost all of the pollsters and pundits, and the mainstream media were spectacularly wrong.
Even mathematical wunderkind Nate Silver, one of the most accurate and respected pollsters in the nation, missed the outcome by a political mile when he gave former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a 70 percent chance of winning on the eve of last Tuesday’s presidential election. I think we witnessed a blue collar working man’s (and women’s) revolution at the ballot box as Trump won most of the traditionally Democrat Rust Belt states and battleground states like Florida, North Carolina and Ohio.
Millions of “forgotten” Americans went to the polls to hand a stinging defeat to the Clintons, to President Obama and the Washington Establishment, to the mainstream media — starting with the New York Times, Washington Post and Big Three (ABC, CBS and NBC) TV networks — and finally, to the entrenched federal bureaucracy.
I’ll be cheering as President Trump keeps his promise to “drain the (Washington, D.C.) swamp.” That self-serving federal enclave has been out of touch with the majority of the American people for far too long. I saw our nation’s capital and federal workforce up close and personal during my Foreign Service career, and wasn’t impressed.
As you know, Trump wasn’t my candidate (I proudly voted for “None of these candidates”), but I’ll support our new president when I think he’s on the right track. Most Americans thought President Obama and Mrs. Clinton were on the wrong track, and that’s why she lost. Most of us want lower taxes, a smaller federal government, effective border controls, a restoration of traditional American values and 100 percent support of law enforcement and the military, including an end to misguided gender and social experiments in the armed forces. The American military should be a war-fighting machine, not a social engineering laboratory.
To be perfectly frank about it, too many voters thought Mrs. Clinton was a corrupt liar. But, to her credit, she gave a gracious concession speech and offered to work with Trump to heal the wounds resulting from a truly bitter and nasty presidential election campaign. And President Obama promised his cooperation to assure a peaceful transition of power, one of the hallmarks of our constitutional democracy. I hope Trump is smart enough to accept their generous offers. We’ll know how he responds well before he takes the oath of office on Jan. 20, 2017.
State and Local Results
Statewide election results showed the Californication of Nevada is almost complete, thanks largely to outgoing Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, politically active labor unions, and an influx of California voters, especially in populous Clark County. Mrs. Clinton and former state Atty. Gen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who will replace Reid in the Senate, won in Clark and Washoe counties but lost in Carson and 14 rural counties. So perhaps State Controller Ron Knecht was right a few years ago when he described Nevada as “East California.”
My congratulations to Carson Mayor Bob Crowell, Supervisor Brad Bonkowski and Supervisor-elect John Barrette. I hope they’ll reject “feel good” projects we can’t afford along with the proposed Vintage Project, which violates the city’s master plan. And finally, Nevada voters made huge mistakes by approving Questions 1 (gun control) and 2 (“recreational” marijuana,) which will be a nightmare for families and the state Tax Commission.
Guy W. Farmer has been a Carson City voter since 1962
