Why #ClintonWon won’t become a viral hashtag after the next debate – even when she wins.

Following the second presidential debate tonight, #TrumpWon will again go viral and a bunch of “polls” will show a massive boost for the Trump campaign.

Of course, open online polls are not polls at all, in any recognised sense.  Any poll that can be “swamped” by a campaign cannot be described as anything resembling a representative sample.  Furthermore, there is much evidence of social media manipulation of open online polls, whereby votes can be replicated and spread by determined hackers – see below.

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None of this so called “reality” will impact on Trump’s dedicated supporters, whose abject prostration in front of their disgusting demagogue means that they will continue to insist that “their” online polls reflect a massive groundswell of “real” voters – something that Clinton cannot match.

For such people, of course, Trump has already won, because “winning” is what Trump does.  Whatever Trump does is “winning” because he defines the word – just as he defines the word “truth”.

Tonight, Donald Trump could stagger on stage blind drunk, vomit over a child, set fire to an American flag, and collapse unconscious with his trousers around his ankles, and #TrumpWon would still be a viral hashtag.

The people who promote this hashtag and swamp the online polls, together with the people who hack into social media have decided that Trump has always won – no matter what.  The so-called “revelations” of the past 24 hours, which have apparently “shocked” some people into learning that Trump is exactly the sort of person he has always appeared to be, will make no impact on Trump supporters.  Trump’s unapology was a statement of disassociation.  His supporters are describing the tape as though the “words” are the only problem, as though he was just telling a string of dirty jokes instead of boasting about a repeated pattern of criminally abusive behaviour.

Furthermore, the #TrumpWon crowd will also suggest that swamping polls is itself a valid measure of winning.  If #TrumpWon people can get organised, why can’t #ClintonWon people get similarly motivated?

The truth is – it’s not a question of motivation.  Trump, with no moral boundaries, and recognition of any standard of truth or fairness to which he stands accountable, has passed on to his supporters, this same kind of suspension of judgement.  Clinton’s supporters, on the other hand, have (by and large) retained the capacity of judgement.  They will not declare that “Clinton won” until they’ve actually seen her do it.  They will (by and large) exercise the critical responsibilities of adults.

It’s my firm belief that the kind of non-judgmental uncritical devotion paid by Trump’s supporters to Trump should not be paid by any human being to any other human being.  Hillary is a flawed human, with strengths and weaknesses.  She is not God, and she is not Satan.  Throughout her presidency, she will be held to account by the people who voted for her.  No matter how successful her presidency, people will be disappointed in her from time to time.  She is, herself, not the very definition of Truth, but rather someone whose actions are subject to validation.

People will judge her, because they are citizens.

Trump can tell stupid and obvious lies all the live long day, because his supporters have decided that “Truth” is merely a function of the greater Truth that is Trump and that Truth needs to adapt itself to whatever Trump wants it to mean at any given time.  No Clinton supporter feels this way.  Which is why this election is not just about which candidate is more “truthful”, but about whether or not “truth” even exists.