US media fails to elect Hillary over Trump

I don't typically write about politics, but with such a juicy election I just could not resist. If you're reading for perspectives on brands, products, and customers I promise its in there. 

Last week’s US election was a gotcha. The media got it all wrong, or perhaps we missed the point entirely. Clearly media channels have motives, agendas and a lot of control. We used to call them the news…now they are anchors and commentators. Anchors as in a lead weight, a mass holding a vessel in place, not changing the view, holding hostage unsuspecting masses of viewers with a sinister plot to not report on events in a fair handed neutral voice, but to construct a story with one purpose in mind - to influence. They are commentators, which means they have a mouth and a microphone and now an alibi when their soapbox becomes too visible and the veil of “news” and real reporting fades away.

Did Trump win because voters that connected with Trump + voters that hated Hillary won more state electors than voters that connected with Hillary and hated Trump? Or perhaps Trump’s appeal to fear was more motivating to voters than Hillary’s appeal to hope. Obama used hope and he aced it. He seemed authentic, and consumers bought (voters voted). Hillary, turns out, is no Obama.  Is the US ready for a female president? Of course, we are, but not if that’s the best reason you can come up with. This is the equivalent of a brand falling in love with one of their features and convincing themselves that this is the most important feature to their customers.

This nation’s citizens don't trust the government and Hillary was part of the government, a continuation of more of the same. Consumer sentiment was against what she represented. The trend was not in her favor. Bernie was Trump on the other side. Even though he’s a politician, he was a harsh critic of the system, an outsider, a spokesperson for the little guy, the middle of America, the forgotten people who struggle every day. Sounds like we’re describing Trump... anti-status quo, need for change, the forgotten men and women of the US. If Trump was running as a Democrat, and Bernie chose the Republican party, would we have voted in a President Bernie Sanders? 

Did Trump just understand the plight of the forgotten men and women in the middle of America and he connected with them stronger than Hillary’s appeal? Did we confuse Trump’s message as Trump’s when the message reflects half of the citizens of the US? Did we confuse the media’s message as neutral and real?  Did the media think they could destroy Trump by pointing out his shortcomings, when in fact he was just the mouthpiece of half of the country and going after Trump made no difference, because we all look past character flaws and comments made once upon a time, when the flip side is a candidate that speaks to our human condition. Both Hillary and Trump were chock full of issues and flaws but they were not strong enough to overcome the positive connections.

So then what was the bigger surprise? That the media wasn’t ever reporting in a neutral and balanced manner? Isn’t selective reporting, including omitting relevant data points with the intent to not portray an issue fairly, the equivalent of lying?  Or is the biggest surprise that all citizens of the US don’t agree on all issues? That can’t be it. It looks pretty bad on the outside, but then again, the media is reporting on it, so should we expect any different and can we really believe it?

Whether you like or love Hillary or Trump, the entire country lost an important facet of our strength, and that is a neutral and non-partisan media channel…there goes the watchdog. Perhaps we might be naive to think they were ever neutral… let’s face it, we are not gods or superheroes but merely human with motives and intentions and want to see our favorite team win.

But we lost on another front, and that’s with hidden 3rd and 4th party candidates Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. Regardless of who your favorite candidate was, we know from history that monopolies and duopolies don’t best serve the needs of markets and customers. The US sorely needs a third political party to break the cycle of bad versus worse. Choosing the lesser of evils is hardly ideal – we deserve better. A third player will force the two major parties to improve, to be better or they will fall to the wayside and a new, better product, I mean a better political party will emerge. 

Funny how the media was so focused the few weeks leading up to the election on Trump’s non-commitment to concede the election. They counted their chickens all right, and it has been over a week after the election and the media still hasn’t conceded the Trump victory. Is this the irony of their destiny? Instant karma? They made their bed and now they must sleep in it. They need to take their own advice...peaceful transition…if they truly are working for a noble betterment of society, if that is what they tell themselves when they lay down at night, then they would indeed have a different message during this transition. Let’s all hope we can trust the news to be fair with all sides represented accurately without their own activist agendas polluting the message, but until then, at least we have the internet and our own intelligence to spot activism and agenda when masked as reporting.