We all know what happened in 2016 during the Presidential Election of Donald Trump. But do we know WHY it happened? There was plenty of speculation to go around for sure. But Mark Jabbour’s book Election 2016: The Great Divide, The Great Debate explains it on so many different levels that it becomes clear there wasn’t one thing that separated Hillary Clinton from Donald Trump.
In the first few chapters, you may wonder if you have picked up a text book on psychology, or are reading a treatise on what happened in a presidential election. In fact, I admit, I learned more about myself reading those opening chapters, than I ever did about the election. But that is [the] magic of this book. It causes you to realize who we are as a people, who we are as a nation, and it makes you examine yourself as an individual to challenge your beliefs. And the main reason is, that is exactly what was going through the author’s life as he was writing it.
The book is a perfect marriage of our combined psyche, the mood of the nation at the time, a presidential election that was contentious to say the least, filled with scandal and misinformation (fake news?), and a personal look at the author’s life and how it changed due to this contest. It weaves you through all of the highlights of the campaign to be sure, but also touches on what was happening to us as a nation, and us individually as we strive to elect the best person to lead us. On top of that, you get a rare inside look at Jabbour’s life, the events unfolding there, and how it effected his day to day thinking.
On the surface, this is a political book. But it’s so much more than that. It’s a mirror of America in 2015 and 2016. It’s a look at a country struggling to redefine itself amidst turmoil. And yes, it has enough twists and turns to qualify as a thriller of sorts. The only difference is, those twists and turns were real, not something dreamed up in a novelist’s mind.
If you have ever found yourself wondering how America got itself into it’s current position, and maybe, just maybe, how it can get out of it, pick up a copy of Election 2016: The Great Divide, The Great Debate. You won’t be sorry!
The Lone Cactus, Rich Hoffer 3/15/2024
Under “nothing under the sun changes” (from ECCLESIASTES, btw) we are again (as in 2016) faced with the reality that the election (POTUS 2024) will be decided by that population of voters who can’t make up their minds – “The Undecided”. In just a few ‘battleground’ states. Maybe one? (p. 267, & 128 in the book.)
~ Is that ironic? or just plain nuts? I’d love to hear what you think. (With civility, of course.)
In Canada we seem to get as much news about America (sometimes more) as our own country!
Because – there’s 10xs more of us and well … we’re nice and friendly folk. 🙂
Besides, it’s too damn cold and cloudy up there, and lonesome.
Some cities up here are pretty densely populated!
Of course. I was trying to be funny. 🙁 But to your original comment: I think that’s true all over the world, b/c the POTUS has such power to effect peoples’ lives all over and everywhere. So it matters what happens here in the USA regarding who’s who and what’s what.
I don’t think it should be that way – but it is.