By Leticia Remauro
On November 8, 2016, pollsters, newscasters, the Hollywood elite and big city dwellers were all dealt a shocking blow when Donald Trump was elected as the 45th President of the United States of America. I watched the returns in my home, surrounded by my family who had spent the last 18 months glued to the television following the campaign on 24 hour news shows such as CNN and Fox & Friends. In the 23 years I have spent in politics, never has my family been this interested in an election.
What made this election different from elections past was that they had a candidate with whom they could identify. A straight talking, unabashed, billionaire who didn’t mince words and who gave a voice to millions of people who feared punishment by the PC police if they dared to speak their mind.
Americans have been forced to acquiesce to pressure from newscasters, college professors and those who make their living in the sports and entertainment industry to strike certain words from the English language because those words might make people feel bad. They tell us that it is better to be “fake” than to speak honestly and risk hurting someone’s feelings because, as Americans, we all have the right to feel good all the time.
Well, fake is what they wanted and fake is what they got. All those polls that showed Hillary Clinton winning were flawed because the masses didn’t answer the questions honestly.
Anyone who bothered to venture out of the big city and speak to voters one on one could have told these political pundits that Donald Trump was going to win. Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Women, Men, Muslim, Jew, Christian, Buddhist, Gay, old and young all had the same opinion about government – it didn’t represent THEM. They felt disenfranchised and they wanted to vote for someone who sounded and acted more like them – so they did.
Many of my political pundit friends have spent the last few days scrambling to figure out “what went wrong” with the election. That question, in and of itself, demonstrates why their election predictions were flawed. Nothing “went wrong” with the election – what went wrong was their belief that people would give them an honest answer while the political talking heads and Hollywood elite were telling them that only racists, idiots, the uneducated and right wing lunatics would cast their vote for Donald Trump.
It amazes me how the “thought police,” who preach sensitivity and acceptance for all people have zero compunction about shaming those who believe differently than they do.
In the days following the election, Madonna, Cher, Lady Gaga and Mark Ruffalo have abandoned their PC philosophy to march alongside protesters holding signs calling President-elect Trump “Hitler” while his likeness is burned in effigy. While they have every right to express their political views, they shouldn’t be surprised when the people who supported Donald Trump become offended and stage a boycott against them.
Just look at what happened to the NFL when they went down the PC path by allowing Colin Kapernick to kneel during the National Anthem. American’s responded by boycotting football games causing ratings to plummet by double digits.
Speaking at a Dealbook conference last week, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ignored that fact and instead blamed the ratings tank on the broadcasts being too long and the referee’s calls being bad. Maybe he needs to do what the political pollsters didn’t do and give a bit more credit to the American public before it is too late for him too.