Upon reflection I think it’s safe to say that voters do not give a damn about experience or character when it comes to who they support.
These things are often brought up by people but they smack me as the kinds of post hoc arguments people toss out after their animal brain has already decided based on their gut intuitions and preferences.
Obama was infinitely less experienced than McCain, and he blew McCain out. Now most of that was the anti republican wave after Iraq, the financial crash and Bush, but it’s still an example where experience meant jack. Trump had no political experience, no one cared. Hillary had far more political experience, and again, no one cared in certain states.
Character. Remember Bill Clinton? His male slut actions were exposed for the world to see, and at the end of the day, he was more popular at the end of his presidency than when he came in because people did not care about his personal infidelity. Same with Trump, this was a foul mouthed lout who was exposed for grabbing women by the p*ssy (his claim, not mine), and no one cared about that.
You know what they DID care about? Trump was going to make America GREAT again, he was going to bring back jobs, more coal jobs, more factory jobs, he alone can make it all right. Was this true? Did he really have a plan? Doubtful, I think it was a fairly obvious con job from a master con man, but the rubes ate it up. And here is the key, whether his proclamations were plausible or not, it was still tangentially related to issues and where he wanted to take the country.
Hillary and her campaign focused too much on Trumps character, the media focused too much on Trumps character, and we need to FINALLY have that focus DIE once and for all because no one, NO ONE gives a damn about character. Trump was the father of lies who shot them out faster and more egregiously than any other politician in the modern era, and it did not matter. Hillary did have substance, but it did not connect to the people it needed to connect to in the swing states. She had no clear message for those people at the right moments like the debates where all eyes were on her.
Bernie did, he did not give a crap about the fluff, he tossed aside questions about Hillarys emails during his debate with her. And remember this gem?
NO one thought Bernie came across as someone who just wanted to utter the right platitudes. He came across as a true believer, even for people that thought his ideas were over the top and insane.
So the lesson for the future of politics? Be precise in your criticism in the era of Trump, dial back the character issues because no one gives a shit, least of all the people who put him in office and are biologically engineered to ignore negative aspects of the choice they just made (as are we all). And focus on specific issues where he has fallen short. And for gods sakes, whoever we run in 2020, make sure they do the same.