So, the Russian lost Hillary the election?
No. Not so simple.
In recents findings and inquires, Senate and House leaders have called for a senate committee to investigate Russia’s potential involvement in the U.S. election. Republicans and Democrats both have expressed concern, pegging cyber security as the one issue the U.S. does not have an advantage in. Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnel has been very vocal about his concerns and his desire to find out more: “Any foreign breach of our cybersecurity measures is disturbing, and I strongly condemn any such efforts…the Russians are not our friends”.
published a very helpful piece outlining what we know about Russia’s involvement. It notes that so far, what has been found is that intermediaries linked to the Russian government hacked into the Democratic National Committees servers last year and John Podesta’s server. Their findings were unfavorable to the Clinton staff, finding details about Clinton’s paid speeches to wall street and communication between staffers regarding their lack of knowledge about the private email server. intermediaries linked to the Russian government forwarded this information to Wikkileaks who then released the information pubblically, producing a week of unfavorable press close to the election. No evidence has been found showing that the Russian movement indeed to tamper with the process of electing President, but speculations have been made that their objective was to slow don Hillary’s lead.
On the other side of thing, Donald Trump is dismissing the claims, calling them an act of being a “sore loser”. What is interesting though, is in the midst of this controversy, Rex Tillerson, a close alley of Russia personally and through business, has bee appointed Secretary of State, a clear sign as to where Trump is looking to head with U.S.-Russia relations.
So, did this lose Hillary the election? Did the leaked emails that reviled the details of Hillary’s speeches to Wall Street, shocked Hillary aids expressing their lack of knowledge concerning the extent of her use of a private server to send emails while U.S. secretary of state really seal the deal for Trump? I don’t think so. The issue of insuring u.S. cybersecurity is a separate issue. Hillary Clinton lost the election because she did not have a large, and effective enough base in key states. She did not have a message which resented with enough Americans. She did not have the answers people were looking for. In addition to the low numbers as a result of the issues outlined, The FBI release of “potentially damaging information” in Hillary’s emails a week before the election was perhaps the most significant aspect to her loss. The Russians, not so much.
Cyber security is the way of the future, I applaud the senate and house for acting on this quickly. But, to blame the Russians for influencing the election to such a degree, to me, seems obtuse. If a Trump-esq landslide is to be prevented, the issues that are happening within our country and parties must be examined. What is concerning about this is that Trump seems lackadaisical, and the future of increasing U.S. cyber security, especially against Russia, seems unrealistic.
Agora: Watching the World Turn 