In 2016

16th September 2024

Okay, Boss,

You’re looking for a man in my age range who has an opinion on “2016”. I’m going to guess you mean the election here, but your instructions are to make a statement of one to two hundred words off the cuff without doing research. Well, here goes.

In 2016 the American people were given a choice between an entrenched politician and a wildcard who had conflicting methodologies. Clinton, the entrenched politician, preached a realistic attitude that foretold the fall of the coal industry and made no falsehoods about the change that was in the future of the country. Trump, wild card, preached a return to the golden age of America telling coal workers that he would protect their jobs. Faced with a dismal truth or a hopeful lie enough people accepted the lie as their best hope placing Donald Trump in power. Other factors tipped the needle in Trump’s direction like poorly timed investigation announcements and Russian interference. The Clinton camp thought it was a no contest win and got complacent. Any one of these could have been the tipping point for the election, but it is widely considered a wind gust victory for Trump.

That’s what comes off the top of my head anyway. I mean, I’ve looked at what happened a few times and have strong opinions of it, but that’s what I can sum it up as on the fly.

Best,



Richard Leland Neal