Editor, Manteca Bulletin,

Al Mocada, I read your article in the Bulletin on Saturday morning.  I found some of your points extremely valid. I agree. Trump’s campaign was horrible. He made many remarks about women and Hispanics that were just not acceptable from anyone much less a presidential candidate. It is undeniably the worst presidential campaign in my lifetime. I didn’t want Trump as the Republican nominee. He didn’t win the majority of the primary votes so I deduce that the majority of the Republican voters didn’t want him either but with 16 or so candidates splitting votes he kept coming out on top without winning the majority. Most Republicans were as appalled as you are. I share your concern with his vitriolic style of rhetoric.

Secretary Clinton was also an extremely flawed candidate. The emails, Benghazi and the use of the Clinton Foundation as an influence peddling machine did not make her a loved and respected candidate although I will say that she was probably less feared and hated than Mr. Trump.

Basically I believe what happened was that America was given a choice between two highly flawed candidates and the fault for that can only be placed on the American people on both sides of the aisle.

I and glad you are willing to give President-elect Trump the benefit of the doubt. We all have reservations but I believe he will be guided by the House and the Senate.

The Electoral College map told a very succinct story. The coastal urban areas wanted Secretary Clinton and the rest of the country didn’t want Secretary Clinton. It wasn’t a vote for Trump as much as a vote against the Washington power structure. There is a saying in business that “you can’t manage your way out of the problem with the people that managed you into it”. It was clear from Senator Sander’s popularity as a “Socialist Democrat” that people were willing to embrace radical action to change the status quo.

Robert Reich was clearly despondent when he wrote that the Trump victory was a sad night for America because “Authoritarian Populism” won out over “Progressive Populism”.  I think he missed the point. Trump won because the majority of the areas of the country got tired of being told to get in line with the “Authoritarian Government” that told them to ignore their interpretation of the facts and get in line with the party in power. Americans don’t like being told what to think and how to think it by politicians or the media. They got tired of Washington and the words they used to get elected and then selling their votes to the special interests. They are just basically tired of Washington Democrats and Republicans alike.

Trump is not really a Republican. He is much more an Independent that better understood the nature of the Republican voters than their own party. He hijacked a political party that had lost its way and was trying to define itself along the extremes. The Republican leadership did not want Trump so I wouldn’t be too worried about this fear that hate crimes will run rampant because the vast majority of Republicans really don’t think like that and I doubt Trump does either…time will tell. Many of the Republicans are baby boomers that were integral in ending segregation, changing the marriage laws and supporting women’s and minority rights. They are not homophobic, ethnocentric, elitist racists and it is just as wrong to characterize them as such as it is for people to characterize the Islamic Americans as terrorists. Words tend to go to the extremes even if the beliefs are not truly there. 

Secretary Clinton was very gracious in her concession speech. Both Clinton and President Obama urged America to join them in the peaceful transition of power. Trump is not in power yet. How will President Obama help quell the riots? Nobody is worried about peaceful protest but riots are not peaceful protests. Disrupting everyone’s life and terrorizing the populous because the president elect is disliked is not how democracy works. They serve no purpose but to further solidify the divide between the citizens of this country. I truly hope that he encourages the rioters to stop so we can all move forward.

Mark Laurora

Manteca