During the campaign, Trump savaged women, Mexicans, Muslims, the disabled and the entire ‘swamp’ of Washington politics. Hillary did a smack down of the ‘basket of deplorables' who backed Trump.
The result going into election eve? Hillary was ahead by just a few percentage points. Trump’s odds of winning had gone from near nil after their last debate to 35% and it quietly escalated during the last few weeks, resulting in a win that shocked everyone outside of the hard core Trump fans.
As the votes started being counted, exit polls showed the temperament of the people. A majority thought the country was on the wrong track. Democrats and Republicans dropped their blood feud long enough to agree on one thing. To quote Bill Clinton's 1992 team, “It’s the economy, stupid!”
But the economy could be felled by a shaken worldwide investment community. The Dow Futures dropped almost 800 points in late trading. The S&P and NASDAQ reached their bottom limit and trading was stopped. Asian markets took a nose dive off the same financial cliff. The specter of Trump’s threat to renegotiate or rescind major trade agreements and what that would do to international trade was more risk than the big money markets were willing to take.
But it was a the powerful racist thread that tilted the table toward Trump. at 1:14 Wednesday morning, David Duke, the ex-head of the KKK, tweeted “This is one of the most exciting nights of my life -> make no mistake about it, our people have played a HUGE role in electing Trump! #MAGA.”
Paul Krugman, the New York Times conservative voice, wrote this in the middle of the night, even before the race was officially called: “Now comes the mother of all adverse effects – and what it brings with it is a regime that will be ignorant of economic policy and hostile to any effort to make it work. Effective fiscal support for the Fed? Not a chance. In fact, you can bet that the Fed will lose its independence, and be bullied by cranks.
So we are very probably looking at a global recession, with no end in sight. I suppose we could get lucky somehow. But on economics, as on everything else, a terrible thing has just happened.”
The real driving force behind the election, though, was the 69% of the people who told exit pollers that they were disgusted or angry about how government works. More than anyone in the race,Trump spoke often and forcefully to their concerns.
The popular vote exposed a vicious split, a huge gap between urban and rural voters. The Ag community gave Trump the nod while the urban areas were reliably Democratic. Farmers and ranchers are an unforgiving lot, though. If they don’t see some real action from Trump - a serious reduction of federal rules and regs they see as killing their profitability and encroaching on their land rights, for instance - their sense of retribution will be swift.
The short end for establishment agriculture, though will be Trump’s promised attack on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), an agreement that groups like the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the North American Meat Institute fervently backed. Anti-establishment groups like R-CALF, a staunch supporter of a protectionist attitude toward international trade, should be delighted.
The effect of the election will change the way Congress will manage the debate over the 2018 farm bill. Mississippi’s Senator Thad Cochran (R), for instance, will be the most likely chair of the ag committee. He prefers traditionally styled crop subsidies while Michigan’s Senator Debbie Stabenow (D) backs revenue-based supports.
The bottom line: middle class Americans wanted change and they voted in Barak Obama because he promised change. In their opinion, he didn’t deliver so they brought in a man who promised to destroy the existing system and create a new one. Trump’s “Drain the swamp” battle cry will be a promise that must be kept, regardless of the damage.
Source: Meatbusiness