There is an old adage that you should never assume–because it “makes an ass of u and me”. Donald Trump proves that the old adage is indeed correct.
As soon as he began his bombastic campaign for President, Conservatives assumed that all of the party insiders and big money donors would wield their influence to shove him to the back of an over-crowded field and allow actual Republicans to compete for the nomination. And after the early loss in Iowa, they assumed that Trump would grow frustrated with the process and just quit on his own–being a guy who was accustomed to getting his way all the time.
And as the campaign dragged on, it was assumed that that the GOP would coalesce behind one of the other candidates to finally put away Trump in the spring and spare the party the embarrassment of having him as the nominee. Then it was assumed that delegates and party faithful would revolt at the Cleveland Convention–demanding a roll call vote where somehow the nomination would be usurped from Trump. And those party power players and leaders assumed that if they stayed away from Trump that he would suffer his blowout defeat and they could get to rebuilding the Republican party on November 9th.
Democrats assumed that Trump’s general campaign would be full of mis-steps, amateurish decisions, media debacles and alienation of pretty much the entire voter base. And the media assumed that their reports on Trump’s language about women, his financial records, his ties to Russia and his comments about every minority group would destroy any credibility he may have with the American public. The pundits and prognosticators assumed that social issues would outweigh economic and Constitutional concerns in the minds of voters.
And then Hillary Clinton assumed that the voting blocs that had fallen into line with her predecessor would do the same for her campaign. She assumed the states that had voted Democrat for President since the end of the Reagan Era would continue to do so–even if she didn’t spend a single second campaigning in them (like Wisconsin). And Clinton assumed that when people get something for free–like health insurance–or are offered a bunch of free things–like college tuition–they value them as much as something they actually have to work and pay for. And Mrs Clinton assumed that Americans really cared about “making history” with their votes, and were as easily offended as the Millenials that she also assumed were just going to flock behind her because she told them they had to. And Hillary assumed that everyone thought like she did–that the rules and the laws don’t really apply to her and her husband.
So here we sit, the day after the election we all assumed would be a blowout–and u and me look like a bunch of asses.
