Trumped: The Silent Voters Speak

By Bill G. Marks

We have just finished one of the most historic presidential elections ever held in this country. The nation was shocked at the outcome, leading many to examine the reasons for the upset.

Never have we had a woman obtain the nomination for president of a major party. Never have we had a candidate promising to self-fund his primary campaign. Never have we had seventeen candidates seek the presidential nomination with all of them being from the same party. Never have we had so many candidates breach their promise to support the nominee after signing a pledge to do so. Never have we had a presidential candidate who had never run for or held a political office until they decided to run for president. Never have we had a candidate under criminal investigation by the FBI at the time they were seeking their partys nomination. Never have we had a candidate who won the national popular vote and yet received so few electoral college votes. Never have we had a movement by a political party to dump their candidate after they were declared the winner of their primary.

This book is a chronological review of the 2016 US presidential election and the reasons for this shocking upset.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: May 12, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524691707

Bill G. Marks

Bill Marks was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. After graduating from Montgomery Bell Academy in 1960, he attended The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the College of Law where he was awarded The Outstanding Trial Attorney in Moot Court. He received a Masters of Arts degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. At the University of Tennessee, he was selected for membership in Omicron Delta Kappa National Honor Society, Who’s Who in American Universities and Colleges, Scarabbean Senior Society and Pledge Master of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He was licensed to practice law by The Tennessee Supreme Court in 1967, and practiced law with the firm of Morton, Morton and Lewis in Knoxville for several years, after which he moved to middle Tennessee and established his private law practice. Bill spent many years as a trial lawyer and served as an Assistant District Attorney General for the Seventh Judicial District in the State of Tennessee. A former president of his local Bar Association and member of The House of Delegates of The Tennessee Bar Association, he was selected for membership in Who’s Who Among Lawyers in the South. He held membership in The American Bar Association, Tennessee Bar Association and American Trial Lawyers Association. He was awarded an AV rating, the highest legal and ethical rating by Martindale-Hubble, a lawyer rating system conducted by his peers. He held membership in his local Lions Club and Rotary Club. After he retired from the practice of law, he moved to Del Webb Spruce Creek Golf and Country Club where he became Chairman of the Community Programs and Activities Committee and was elected to The Board of Directors of The Homeowners Association.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The Presidential Announcements And Primaries

The Democrats

On a quiet Sunday afternoon of July 12, 2015, Hillary Clinton announced her run for the presidency by means of a low key video. She chose not to have a large crowd or a live event and down played the announcement. She defended President Obama’s healthcare plan, Obamacare, women’s equality and talked about restoring the disappearing middle class to a thriving class of people. She told her audience that her campaign was about everyday Americans who were trying to build a better life for themselves and their families. Regarding domestic policy issues, she embraced the overhaul of the tax code and reforming the immigration system. She proposed expansion of the pre-kindergarten education program and a plan to reduce the cost of a college education. On foreign policy issues, she advocated sanctions for Iran and voiced concern over Iran becoming a country having nuclear power.

Hillary became the first Democrat to announce her run for the presidency, and it was expected that Vice President Joe Biden, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont might join in the race for the Democratic nomination.

The great surprise was that Joe Biden’s son died of brain cancer and he decided not to run, or could it have been that Biden thought that Hillary would be indicted, and he could step into the Democratic convention and get the nomination without having to campaign for a year? Martin O’Malley barely made a dent in the race and decided to stop his run after a short time. Elizabeth Warren decided not to run. Former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee and Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig announced as candidates and then disappeared in thin air and that left Vermont Independent Senator Bernie Sanders to figure out if he should run in the Democratic Party. No one ever dreamed that 14 months later Bernie would not only still be in the race, but also driving Hillary crazy, as he had won 21 state primaries to 28 for Hillary. The delegate count was 1775 for Hillary compared to 1502 for Bernie. Hillary had a big lead in super delegates with 523 for her to 46 for Bernie. (The super delegates or unpledged delegates are appointed at the convention by the party, independently of the primary electoral process.) Two days before the California primary Bernie was in a dead heat with Hillary in California, but she needed only 85 more delegates to secure the nomination when unpledged Super delegates were counted. At this point Hillary was 3 million popular votes ahead of Bernie. On June 6, Clinton reached the magic number of 2,383 when the super delegates from Puerto Rico were