Exit polls suggest that those worried about economic topics voted Clinton. Those that worried about immigration and terrorism voted Trump.
It doesn't seem to be talked about much, but something that stuck out for me in the election coverage was that Islam was the connecting thread eg Clinton got donations from Saudi Arabia which is suspect because they are Islamic, Clinton wants to support Syrian refugees which is bad because they're Islamic, Clinton has an aide called Huma Abedin which is bad because Islam and so on.
Lots of people say Obama got elected so America can't be racist, but even then the big slur thrown at him was that he was a secret Muslim, working in concert with ISIS to undermine the USA.
I wouldn't rule out this as a decisive factor. Clinton (and Bernie for that matter) wouldn't stoop to the levels required to benefit from this xenophobia. Trump lied about banning Muslims completely (which presumably even he knows would be ridiculous and unworkable).
Yes, absolutely. I think as well that the immigration debate has more than one angle, which have (in my opinion) these most vocal arguments:
a) Immigrants are bad people and they cause crime and change our culture. Bad bleeding-heart liberal ideas that I disagree with are bringing in people with different norms who don't care about my culture or country. Those people should just go back to where they came from, I don't like 'em one bit.
b) Immigration should be re-evaluated, after all, shouldn't America be helping our own? Also, a lot of these people are working under the table, and when they go the hospital it's my taxes that pay for it. I can't help but think those liberal elites are screwing over the little guy. They are so out of touch. For example, look at how Obama wants to bring in even more. And those free trade agreements smell mighty corrupt to me - just look at those jobs we sent to Mexico.
The Democrats focused on 'debating' or "combating" A. B would've been the right thing to address, to respond to, with an actionable platform. I feel a parallel is happening in Europe today, a similar disconnect.
It doesn't seem to be talked about much, but something that stuck out for me in the election coverage was that Islam was the connecting thread eg Clinton got donations from Saudi Arabia which is suspect because they are Islamic, Clinton wants to support Syrian refugees which is bad because they're Islamic, Clinton has an aide called Huma Abedin which is bad because Islam and so on.
Lots of people say Obama got elected so America can't be racist, but even then the big slur thrown at him was that he was a secret Muslim, working in concert with ISIS to undermine the USA.
I wouldn't rule out this as a decisive factor. Clinton (and Bernie for that matter) wouldn't stoop to the levels required to benefit from this xenophobia. Trump lied about banning Muslims completely (which presumably even he knows would be ridiculous and unworkable).