By WARREN ANDERSON*
in Washington D.C
Well, it’s done! Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th President of the United States during the 58th swearing in ceremony of a U.S. President at exactly 12:00 PM in Washington, D.C., January 20th, 2017. The earth continues to revolve around its axis as it continues its yearly journey around the Sun. And the Trump Tsunami I wrote of last week has hit, for good, silly, and–perhaps–imperfect.
It is important for those afraid, concerned, interested, and/or excited by U.S. politics to understand what just happened, including why, and how.
On June 16th, 2016, after descending the escalator at Trump Towers in New York City, Donald Trump–reality TV host, billionaire, real-estate magnate, builder, and egoist supreme–announced his candidacy for U.S. President as a Republican candidate. Amazing! Surreal! Absurd! A Joke! The journalistic chattering class, political pundits and prognosticators–not to mention late night American comedians–had a field day! And that hair! A comedians dream, a political absurdity and impossibility, a long-shot to beat all long shots. And yet…
If the U.S. ran its election campaign periods as the Japanese–with a 10 day election campaign before voting–or a UK election–typically 4 weeks long–how different the world would be! And how much poorer would the U.S. and the world be! What seems like a long, painful process is really a crucible for leadership.
U.S. presidential elections are held every fourth even year; the same year as when Leap Year falls and the Summer Olympics are held. Election Day is the second Tuesday in November, all as prescribed by the 229 year old United States Constitution. The campaign for president, however, begins much earlier.
You know someone is interested in running for president when they show up as a guest speaker at political party events in New Hampshire and Iowa, and yet are from neither of those states. This takes place usually two years, maybe three years, before the date of a presidential election.
By tradition, Iowa and New Hampshire are the first states holding a Caucus (such as in Iowa, where neighbors/voters of a similar political party meet together on a designated night to debate and haggle over candidates and elect a few in their group to be delegates to bigger and bigger conventions that finally choose the presidential nominee of their party) or Primaries (such as in New Hampshire, where the state’s voters go to the polls on a very cold winter day to vote for whom they would like to see as their Party’s nominee). In the summer of the election year all those elected delegates at State Conventions meet at their National Party Convention to choose the official Party Candidate to be on the ballot in November.
After the conventions the political war really begins. Many hundreds of millions of dollars are raised and spent by both sides, or raised by “Special Interest” groups on behalf of their candidate or against the other candidate. In each of his election victories, Barack Obama raised and spent–or had spent on his behalf–over $1,000,000,000! Hillary Clinton raised or had spent on her behalf nearly $1,000,000,000 but less than Obama in 2012. In 2016, Donald Trump, the billionaire, raised or had spent on his behalf less than $650,000,000. That includes the $66 million he donated personally to his campaign. The rest of the money he raised were in amounts of $200 or less, while Clinton’s in 2016 were mainly in amounts greater than $200 (source: BloombergPolitics).
In the end, Trump won because he connected with the real, silent, angry, and frustrated majority in states where factory jobs had left and were replaced by jobs at McDonalds, or the like. Trump won the same voters–white working class Democrats and Independents–that had carried Barack Hussein Obama to the presidency twice in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. These Trump voters–labeled as “deplorables” and racists by Clinton and other Democrats–had voted for Obama–the first African-American president–twice! A man with the name of Barack Hussein Obama!
According to anti-Trump and leftist activist, Michael Moore said, in a panel discussion on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Inauguration Day, “You have to accept that millions of people who voted for Barack Obama, some of them once, some of them twice, changed their minds this time. They’re not racist. They twice voted for a man whose middle name is Hussein. That’s the America you live in.” They did so because Obama had offered “Hope and Change.” But because Obama came up short they voted for Trump out of frustration, desperation, and with the last vestiges of hope.
Trump is now President of the United States. He has hit the ground running, working to prove that he would keep his promises, yet still covered in the haze of foolish controversies and arguments with the press.
The first fumble and foolish argument was about crowd size at this Inauguration compared to others, especially Obama’s. I have been to nine Inaugurations now, from Ronald Reagan’s first to Obama’s first, and now Trumps first. Without a doubt, the number of people in attendance in D.C. for Obama’s first Inauguration was far greater than that for Trump. The hours it took to get to the standing area for Obama versus the ease to get to my standing area for Trump–and the wait to get on the Metro train back out of Washington, D.C after Obama’s versus the ease to get out for Trump’s–was like night and day. Hours of waiting during Obama’s versus less than an hour for Trump’s.
That said, there were still a great many people–travelers from across the country–that were there in D.C. to cheer and support Trump. But he was not the first African-American elected president. Washington, D.C. had voted overwhelmingly for Obama in 2008 and in 2016 against Trump. Obama had a home court advantage. Why argue about something silly and insignificant? Bad move, Mr. Trump.
The reaction of the Trump crowd to some demonstrators in their midst was to chant “USA, USA” and “Trump, Trump!” Those around me clearly approved of Trump’s Inaugural address and the fact that he once again touched on his campaign themes and promises. These people who voted for Trump have put their trust, perhaps one last time, in a candidate to do what he said he would do, not just make promises to gain power.
Among those in the crowd the day before the Inauguration, in front of the Lincoln Memorial where the Inauguration festivities began, was an ethnic Albanian from Kosovo. He was easy to recognize because of the hat he wore and his scarf with the double-headed eagle of Albania. He wore proudly around his shoulders the American flag. As he walked through the crowd people asked to take his picture or have a picture taken with him. He joyfully shouted “USA, USA” and “Trump, Trump”, often leading the chants.
When I briefly spoke to him he indicated his pride in his Albanian ethnicity, his Kosovo roots and his hope for Trump to help Albania, and especially Kosovo, diplomatically. He was well received by the others in the crowd, even if they did not know where Kosovo or Albania were located.
More controversy ensued and unsnarled the new president and his people on Jan. 21st with world-wide protest marches and demonstrations against Trump by “feminists” and others overwrought by Trump’s Inauguration. Again, crowd size was an issue for both the press and the administration. Get over it! For the left, where was this activity during the campaign? March all you want, Trump is president! For you, Mr. President, get over it! Be magnanimous! You are President! You won! They are just sore losers. Do what you promised to do, get that Tsunami working on jobs for all Americans; secure our borders, and put China, Russia, and the World on notice; The United States retreats no more in foreign policy!
The Trump Tsunami has begun, and it looks like it will be one great wave after another each and every day of this administration. President Trump has made some good effort at moving forward on his agenda; he has met with both Democrat supporting Labor Union leaders, as well as supposed Republican supporting big business leaders–car manufacturers–to give them his views and to tell them that America is back, but that both sides need to give in order that all may benefit. For the illegal immigrant “Dream” children, Trump has recently said that he will not go after them, but that those here in the U.S. illegally who have committed crimes or pose a danger to the U.S. and its citizens will be found and removed. And the Wall will be built and our borders secured, as required by the Oath of Office he took and his responsibility as President.
January 20th, 2017 will be known as a new era in World history. We should all hope that its net result–that the actions and decisions of Donald Trump–are best for the U.S. and therefore, for the world, its nations and peoples. Tempestuous words, bombast, and furious action may all seem scary, if not frightening, at first. It may seem like rationality and reason are gone. That is not so. Donald Trump has not achieved what he has without a good plan, without good advisers, and without the ability to listen and learn. If his motivation is to be loved, a change agent for good, and successful, we shall all come out of this Trump Tsunami better than we went in. Give him time, and give him a chance. January 20th, 2017 may just be a day that a majority within the U.S. and around the world celebrate with an encore on January 20th, 2021!
* Warren Anderson is a Tirana Times op-ed contributor, covering the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington.
