I am no Nostradamus but I invite all of you to revisit this publication and a write-up of this very ordinary scribe by the title of “The Trump Cart” dated 12 March 2016. My personal political preferences aside what I wrote back then was the reading that I had based on the happenings around me. As a midget of an observer, I had sensed where my adopted country was headed. There was something inside me screaming, trying to seek my attention. Please further note that it was much before the much-talked about Brexit referendum.
It was one of the reasons why I refrained from making any comments on Twitter pertaining to this election. Four years ago, I was extremely expressive on Twitter about the reelection of President Barack Obama. This time around, I held my fingers and tongue in check. I heard, read, watched and endured the pundits making their clear and convincing verdicts. My timeline was full of opinions from every one waiting for 8th of November 2016 so the much-expected announcement could be shared with the rest of the world.
There were jokes, sneers, jabs and one-liners mocking the very cocky, often rude and seemingly, obnoxious candidate. At social gatherings, I heard my friends arguing about how a Trump win was never going to happen. I abstained from putting my two cents worth in there. Now that most the experts, pundits, analysts, political hacks and academics have been proven wrong, do I want to score any points? No, none, whatsoever. But I do want to remind my readers of something very profound and powerful that I solemnly and firmly believe in: never underestimate the power of a voter.
My timeline is full of rationales and analyses of what went wrong and why. I changed channels on radio, and there were analyses with experts meticulously examining the logical reasons of the surprise defeat of Secretary Clinton. Our Pakistani experts on the tube on November 7 had mimicked what they had heard on popular channels from the US. If you were to read or listen to analyses of these experts, you were bound to pull your hair out in sheer frustration. Luckily or unluckily, I am follicle deficient in that area so I am fairly safe.
I am a simpleton at heart and was clearly able to see what a simple strategy was at play almost eight months ago. Allow me to walk you through. Simply put, Mr Trump was going after the ‘majority’ vote. You don’t need to have a PhD in political science to deduce that for the last eight years the majority was feeling disenfranchised from the system. Whoever came up with the slogan of “Let’s make America great again” is a genius. The word “great” in this slogan in essence stood for the majority, and completely resonated with that group.
The country is pre-divided in red and blue states. For as long as I have been here, the US presidential election has always been dependent on the swing states. This is where Mr Trump focused heavily, and was able to sway voters his way. This campaign was undoubtedly very fierce and at times, quite nasty, but it taught us a very simple lesson. Most voters vote with their sentiments and not necessarily with their senses. No wonder why people who would ordinarily carry a reasonable conversation can flip quite rapidly when it comes to politics and their leader or a candidate. A lot of emotions are at play because voters see a reflection of themselves in their candidate. No wonder why the voters are willing to overlook all the shortcomings and flaws of their candidate. The remarkable and praiseworthy aspect of this entire process is the tradition of prompt concession by the losing candidate.
I heard Pakistani experts after the result, and most of them felt that the Trump presidency would be challenging for Pakistan. Some of them were of the opinion that Pakistan made the right choice by making a strategic shift towards China. My half-cent worth of an advice to the foreign policy czars back home: engage the new president and the administration. The history of Republicans’ friendliness towards Pakistan should be leveraged and exercised.
To fellow Pakistani-Americans and American Muslims in general, the elections are over. So are the fearful soundbites and phrases. Donald Trump is our president. We are part and parcel of this nation. We have to stay on course in pursuit of our professional and spiritual excellence. If we are strong believers of everything happening for a reason and, at times, an unknown reason, we need to embrace the will of our fellow citizens with grace and respect, and make this place the best place on the face of this earth, as always. May God bless America and the rest of the world with peace, prosperity and joy forever.
The writer is a Pakistani-US mortgage banker. He can be reached at [email protected]. He tweets at
http://twitter.com/dasghar