Email servers to ‘birther’ rumors — Top 5 campaign op-eds of 2016

2016 will register as one of the most memorable campaign seasons in modern U.S. history, if not in the 240 year history of the nation.

The Hill has been happy to share with our readers some of the best political opinion and commentary of the recently-completed presidential race, and our editors have picked five noteworthy pieces to share with you as the year draws to a close.

Salena Zito: That ‘birther’ thing: The media erupts while Main Street yawns

{mosads}Zito is one of the very few pundits and writers out there who grasped the reason why voters in “Flyover Country” were willing to overlook Donald Trump’s many controversial statements and actions during the campaign.

It was Zito who was the first to say in this piece, posted on September 16, “…voters who support him have always taken what he says seriously, but not literally. Meanwhile, the political class, which includes reporters and pundits, have always taken him literally, but not seriously.”

That line would be used over and over again, post-election, by others seeking to explain Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.

Read it here.

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Maria Cardona: The Trump Train flies off the rails, again

Cardona is a political strategist and CNN pundit who wrote often for The Hill during the campaign.

In this piece, posted on August 2, she illustrated a number of reasons why she felt the Trump campaign was in, her words, “disarray.” She even updated the piece several days later to reflect even more possible missteps.

Cardona was smart to note, however, that the then-Republican nominee was not to be underestimated, warning Democrats that they “cannot take anything for granted.”

Read it here.

Paul H. Jossey: Trump was right — Clinton’s email case needs a special prosecutor

Hillary Clinton’s private email server, and her handling of the issue in the aftermath of its discovery, dogged the former secretary of State throughout her presidential campaign.

Donald Trump’s call in a general election debate for a special prosecutor to investigate the matter earned him some unflattering attention in the press but Jossey argued point-by-point why Trump’s suggestion is not only justified — but necessary.

“A special prosecutor could help find justice at Justice,” wrote Jossey. “The investigation, which cleared Clinton and her aides, grows more suspect with every late-Friday document dump and WikiLeak release.”

With talk building over whether President Obama will pardon Clinton at his term’s end, Jossey’s piece is worth another review.

Read it here.

My message to Utah – thank you! #utpol #EvanUT pic.twitter.com/2H89Rsh2hT

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) October 12, 2016

Evan McMullin: As Utah goes, so will go the nation for Independent Evan McMullin

McMullin is a former CIA operative who ran an Independent bid for the presidency, appealing to “Never Trumpers” and Americans who wanted an alternative voice in the political scene.

This column, published October 12, follows the release of a startling poll that showed McMullin in a statistical tie with the two major party candidates in his home state of Utah — normally a Republican stronghold.

McMullin’s presidential bid failed but his column is a call to arms for voters who view the two major parties as the choice between two evils. “Your vote sends an important statement about who you are,” he writes, “and I know that the American people are better than the candidates they are being offered by the two major parties.”

Read it here.

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Kassy Dillon: I’m a young conservative woman and I’m still voting for Trump

Published October 13, just days after the release of Donald Trump’s “Access Hollywood” tape, Dillon, a Millennial and female conservative activist, makes the case for Trump despite his critics’ cries of sexism and misogyny.

Neither candidate can be put on a moral pedestal. She writes, “One is dishonest, and one is egotistic.”

But when the two major party candidates and their controversies are considered holistically, including the revelations from WikiLeaks of Hillary Clinton’s email server and the leaked transcripts of her private speeches, Trump is Dillon’s clear choice.