*Editor’s notes:

Elephant Journal articles represent the personal views of the authors, and can not possibly reflect Elephant Journal as a whole. Disagree with an Op-Ed or opinion? We’re happy to share your experience here.

Astrology isn’t a religion. We’re not sure it’s a science, either. It’s magic, maybe. But, as with feng shui, say, things affect things. It can be mindful if it’s helpful. So as long as we don’t go blaming our problems on the stars, as long as we assume responsibility for our own actions…well, hell, a little auspicious coincidence and applicable wisdom can’t hurt. And so, with that grain of salt…enjoy!  

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As an astrologer, every four years I find it interesting and fun to attempt to predict the winner of a Presidential election.

Those who specialize in this area of astrology are called mundane astrologers. Mundane astrologers predict “mundane” events that occur in the world—like “Will Brexit pass?” and “Who will win the Presidency in Uruguay?” I am not a mundane astrologer. I specialize in interpreting natal charts and a person’s transits to help them understand the positive opportunities happening in their future.

But I enjoy the exercise and challenge of looking at the astrology of candidates to see if I can pick the winner of the race. I did so correctly in picking Obama over McCain in 2008 and Obama over Romney in 2012. I didn’t become Nostradamus because I picked the presidential winners in 2008 and 2012 and I’m not concerned about being the class dunce because Hillary did not win in 2016. To paraphrase Jesus, “Let him who is without error cast the first stone.”

Keep in mind, Hillary Clinton did win the popular vote, even though she lost the all important Electoral College. So, I was wrong this year, as were the polls, pundits, and the overwhelming majority of other astrologers in the world.

In hindsight, I do see the astrology that indicated that Trump could be the “surprise” presidential winner.

I must admit that my own personal bias of believing Hillary Clinton was much more fit to be president got in the way of my objectively interpreting Trump’s positive astrology (or transit) correctly. I say this by way of explanation—not excuse.

The one astrological transit that clearly suggested Trump would win and surprise most people, polls and pundits was his Uranus trine Moon transit, occurring around on Election Day. An objective interpretation would say, “this transit will bring Donald Trump an unexpected and surprising victory in the public arena.” (Uranus brings the unexpected surprise. The Moon rules the public.)

So while the stars may “never lie,” we still can’t help but bring some of our own perspective and biases, as human beings, to the way in which we view them—even as professionals. This seems to reflect what went on down here, with the system too…

At least 50 percent of the United States is asking some version of the question: 

“What the hell went wrong?”

Or, as Thomas Frank asked in The Guardian, “What species of cluelessness guided our Democratic leaders as they went about losing what they told us was the most important election of our lifetimes?”

To find the answer, we have to begin by first asking the major elephant in the room question: why did Hillary Clinton have to be the Democratic nominee for president? Of course she had an impressive resume of experience as a former first lady, a senator from New York and as secretary of state under President Obama. But Hillary Clinton has also been a one-woman scandal-factory for 30 years who has become so maligned by the public that polls showed that 68% of the voters did not trust her. To make matters worst, Hillary Clinton is widely considered to be an establishment insider.

To most political observers, this would make her precisely the wrong presidential candidate to run as the Democratic nominee—at a time when voters were angry, upset, and looking to throw a Molotov cocktail at the entire Washington political system and destroy it once and for all.

During this presidential cycle people made a clear statement about what they were looking for. Many were looking for a leader with radical, non-establishment ideas, like Bernie Sanders. Others were looking for an outsider, a non-politician who could lead a populist revolt against a political system that had failed them. They were ripe for a demagogue like Trump who could validate that all their economic problems were because of politicians, immigrants, bad trade deals, Mexico, China…and the list goes on. They were excited to have a celebrity showman who didn’t use a teleprompter and just gave them plain talk.

Trump delivered a fact-free campaign and his supporters loved it!

The Real Reason Hillary was Chosen.

To understand why Hillary Clinton was chosen by the Democratic party we need to go backwards in time to her 2008 loss to Barack Obama. This campaign experience gave her the opportunity to establish a loyal and even fanatical base of supporters who were dedicated to her and the principal that, after electing the first black President, it was time to have the first woman president in the White House.

She established a coalition of establishment politicians and supporters who she groomed to assure her the party nomination in 2016. She set up her alliances and allies including the Democratic National Chairperson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who would show her favoritism, even to the point of scheduling the minimum number of television debates at times when the audience would be small. This benefited Hillary to the detriment of her opponents. In addition, Hillary worked tirelessly to receive commitments from supporters and the pledges of over 450 Super Delegates, well before the anyone else from the Democratic party was even in the race.

It was her turn to be the presidential nominee! She was set up for coronation, with the notion that her victory as president would fulfill her life-long ambition and benefit all her establishment politician cronies, paying them back for their fealty.

In other words, choosing the best nominee to be the Democratic presidential nominee wasn’t the priority for this opportunistic cabal of self-interested establishment politicians.

Simply put: objectively evaluating whether or not Hillary Clinton could win the presidency was always a secondary consideration and not even up for debate.

An Inconvenient Truth.

If Democratic Party leaders had been open to a discussion of more suitable candidates with far less baggage and a less controversial image, there would have been other candidates to consider and even invite into the nominating process.

Of course, there was good old Joe Biden: well-liked, especially by the working folks and raring to go despite the sorrow of his son’s death, who encouraged him to run for the presidency. There was also former Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who could have been an extremely viable candidate with billions to spend on his own election. Then there was Bernie Sanders, who despite being an Independent and having socialist leanings was an honest, inspiring, and scandal-free politician.

In Bernie’s case, party observers quickly saw that his large political rallies were generating a level of excitement that clearly suggested he could lead a populist movement and revitalize the Democratic voter base with working people and young voters who formerly had never been interested in the political process. Instead Bernie Sander’s popularity inspired fear and was considered a threat rather than an opportunity.

The reality was becoming clear, poll after poll confirmed the obvious: each of these candidates, Biden, Sanders or Bloomberg, had a far better chance of beating Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton.

But no. It had to be Hillary Clinton.

Why?

Because none of these candidates would have served the interests of Democratic party insiders and supporters who were promised opportunities by Hillary in return for their committed support. In other words, the system was “rigged” so that she would be guaranteed to win the nomination.

These same loyal Democratic leaders disregarded every one of Hillary Clinton’s liabilities starting out with her the email-server scandal or, as Bernie put it, her “damn emails!” Then, add up all her political vulnerabilities: her judgment in voting for the War in Iraq, her ties to Wall Street, including the millions she received for those speeches, her voting record on bad trade deals that were tied to the millions of jobs that moved abroad, her questionable actions at Benghazi, and her decisions concerning the American involvement in Libya. Last but not least, let’s not forget the controversy of the perceived wrongdoing of the “pay to play” activities of the Clinton Foundation.

Is it any wonder that Donald Trump exploited the persona of “crooked Hillary” and all her vulnerabilities? Hillary Clinton was the only candidate that Donald Trump could ever beat!

Putting Hillary Clinton up as your Presidential nominee with all these deficits is like having your worst pitcher pitch the final game to win the World Series when you have the three great pitchers in baseball who could guarantee that you’d win the championship.

Just like in this baseball analogy, these Democratic establishment party leaders did not put their “strongest player” in the game. They allowed the dogged ambition of a woman intent on becoming president and their own opportunistic self-interest to be more important that nominating the most electable candidate with the greatest abilities to govern our nation and heal the divide of this election.

This is what the hell happened and why Hillary lost.

But we are here now and the time for recriminations is over.

The voters have spoken: Trump is our new President.

We can chose to suspend our disbelief and hope that he succeeds in uniting all Americans through policies that heal the divides that have been so present in the 2016 election. But neither he, nor any other president who came before or will come after that will ever be able to do that alone. We have an opportunity to create the America we believe in, in our communities and to support the organisations who keep those communities safe, rather than waiting it to trickle down from the White House.

Whether you supported Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, if you want to find out more about how the planets may be bringing changes to your life, go to the Free Transit Calculator and enter your birth date.

If you want to know about the planets in your personal horoscope, go to the Free Horoscope Calculator and enter your birth date. If you’re curious to learn what your Horoscope says about your love relationships, and marriage prospects, as well as career, investments and health, order your customized personal report.

If you’re in love and want to find out if you’re really compatible for marriage (or partnership) with another person, go to the Free Love Compatibility Calculator and enter your birth date and theirs. And, if you want a customized report on your compatibility together, order your Love Compatibility Report.

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Relephant:

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Author: Larry Schwimmer

Image: Gerry Mandering/ Wikimedia commons

Editor: Khara-Jade Warren