Victoria Claflin Woodhull was the first woman to run for president of the United States in 1872. Her campaign was financed by the wealthy industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt.
American politics is a beast. Its larger than life, theatrical, crazy and on most days its a media spectacle, especially if you are an avid Twitter user and follow one particular account:
@realDonaldTrump is a man of many words, which usually doesn’t make much sense to any of us on any given day, regardless of whether you love or hate him. Its still astonishing how he won the 2016 Election and stands a real good chance of being re-elected for a second term.
Trump has a lot of issues and has made some serious miscalculations, especially when it comes to his country’s handling of COVID-19. However, he is a mastermind at communication tricks, especially when it comes to mobilizing his base, and he is Teflon! Nothing sticks to the man unlike his 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton, who got dragged through the mud and entangled in fictional scandals.
2016 Presidential Elections:
Hillary Clinton, regardless of whether you love or hate her, she is a smart and talented woman, and in any other country, she would have been the winner of the 2016 Presidential Elections, except in the US.
Clinton got 65,853,516 votes vs. Trump who got 62,984,825.
She had 3 million more votes, approximately 2% more than Trump but lost the Presidency. Trump won through 306 Electoral College votes. Clinton had 232. A candidate needs 270 Electoral College votes in order to take the Presidency of the United States.
What is the Electoral College? Each state gets a certain number of electors based on its total number of representatives in Congress. There are 538 total electoral votes.
Trump won traditionally Democratic states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin by slim margins, which granted him the Presidency.
Here are some speculations as to why pundits believe Clinton lost the Electoral Colleges:
- She ignored or didn’t engage the white working class without college degrees
- The Obama coalition turned their back on her, predominately Black and Latino voters decided to go with a 3rd party candidate
- Her campaign was too focused on social justice issues and not enough on the economy and the challenges families faced
- The FBI investigation into her “email scandal” and private email server
Personally, I believe she lost because she was a woman.
Clinton’s Media Coverage:
For 18 months, the media, political pundits and Republicans pumped oxygen into a non-scandal or story about Clinton using a private email server for work while she was US Secretary of State.
Crimson Hexagon, a social media analytics firm found that there have been 560,397 articles mentioning Clinton’s emails between March 2015 and September 1, 2016.
Something her predecessor, Colin Powell, did without any scrutiny or question.
There was no evidence to suggest or demonstrate that Clinton did anything illegal or jeopardize US security.
A Harvard media study showed that Clinton’s e-mail scandal accounted for 16% of her campaign coverage. This was four times more than what Trump received in coverage of his treatment of women. Clinton campaign policies accounted for less than 1% of the coverage she received.
During the 2016 Election there was a another story that broke, which most people have very little or no knowledge about: a report was released that confirmed the Bush Administration lost 22 million emails between 2003 to 2009. The Bush White House was using a private email server which was owned by the Republican National Committee. The Administration failed to back these emails up or provide records of them on a congressional subpoena.
Now imagine what the scrutiny would have been like if Clinton’s email server was owned by the Democratic National Committee!
2020 Presidential Elections:
Larry Sabato, a political analyst believes that Trump could lose the popular vote again but still manage to win a second term!
I agree. For a number of reasons, mostly because there is no real challenger to Trump in the political arena.
As of today, July 26, we are exactly 100 days away from Election Day in the US, November 3. Although nominations for the both the Republicans and Democrats have not been formally confirmed, its a safe bet that Trump will be going up against former Vice President, Joe Biden, as the Democratic nominee.
And who can forget the incredibly talented and complicated, Kayne West, who recently announced his candidacy for President as an Independent. Not sure how long his candidacy will continue as his campaign, or whatever you would like to call it at this point, has been off to a very rough start.
All things aside, Kayne is battling some serious mental health challenges, and I hope for his own well being and the sake of his family that he does get the appropriate supports he needs.
100 days is not a long time for campaigning, especially when it is compounded by a pandemic. This limits every candidates ability to travel the country, host rallies, and connect with voters face to face. However, Trump still dominates the national stage with his online presence and platform as the current sitting president.
So where does that leave American politics?
There is a serious doom and gloom feeling over the upcoming Presidential Election. With very little hope or inspiration demonstrated by any candidate. Trump continues to pander to his voter base that won him the Electoral Colleges during the 2016 race and as for Biden, well no one knows who he is pandering to or what he fundamentally believes in. I believe he has decent intentions for the American people but he doesn’t instigate any emotion or confidence other than being the alternative to Trump, which itself is not very comforting.
It will be a long time before we see another women on the US Presidential stage:
The problem with the 2016 Elections is that it will be a very long time before we see a qualified and capable woman being given the opportunity to become a presidential candidate. Yes, we had the likes of California Senator Kamala Harris and US Senator Elizabeth Warren seeking the Democratic nomination, however, their ability to dominate on the national stage fell short for many reasons.
Further, unless something dramatically changes in the media coverage that female candidates receive, there will be less motivation for qualified and brilliant women to enter the US political arena.
To my American friends and colleagues – please register and vote in November!
Until next time, keep safe!
Sara Alimardani 