Cecilie1200
Diamond Member
As if that needed to be said!!!
Look, there are 2 separate questions here.
Did Russian hackers (or hackers of any nationality for that matter) try to influence the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election. I would be shocked if they didn’t try. I’d be equally shocked if our election officials were so inept that they would allow such a hack to go unreported. While there is some truth to not wanting to reveal that you’ve been breached; there is zero chance that a breach would be kept under wraps.
Second question is this:
Did it influence the outcome of the elections. I supported Ms. Clinton from the word “go” in both 2008 and 2016. I can tell you that if you think the answer is “yes”, you’re wearing blinders.
She lost because Trump ran the better campaign in 2016 and she lost in 2008 because Obama ran a better campaign then too as well. SHE IS A DISAPPOINTING CAMPAIGNER!!!! Some people got it and some people don’t. Whatever the secret sauce is that makes one pull a lever next to her name…she ain’t got it. Further evidence of this all-too-clear-fact are the states that Trump won. He won Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Now, if he had won one of these states and lost the EV…someone like me would have said, “Hmm…that’s interesting.” Only because he won all 3 and won the EV do some folks like me (liberals) want to raise questions. To take this stance wounds your credibility. In the first place…One would have to wonder why the hackers spared Virginia—a very contentious state to be sure. Were they feeling generous? Secondly, the states that Mr. Trump did win are historically Blue states with solid governmental infrastructures. Are sensible persons to believe that the elections officials in 3 states have suddenly been retarded to the point where a hack would not be noticed…or reported…by anyone in that hierarchy of the group?
Relax guys. Trump won. Get over it.
While I'd say the answer to both questions is "yes", a third question must be answered: Did it affect the outcome of the election in such a way that the election should be overturned? The answer to that is "no".
The Russians didn't perform their hacks in such a way to invalidate the votes themselves (such as hacking vote-counting machines, for example). They didn't even invent false information against Hillary. Their hacks simply revealed true information that had been hidden from the voters, and - as you point out - the voters did the rest. It isn't as though the voters said, "I am going to vote for Trump because the Russians hacked Hillary."
This is not to say that I'm okay with Russian hacking, because I'm not. However, Hillary has no one but herself to blame for creating skeletons that could be yanked from the closet and used against her. Blaming the Russian hacks for losing her the election is akin to blaming the police for your incarceration because they investigated your crimes.