© 2021
In touch with the world ... at home on the High Plains
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

The 2016 Presidential Election: Unprecedented in So Many Ways

Drew Angerer
/
Getty Images

Every presidential election feels new, in one way or another. But this year feels altogether unprecedented in so many ways. KUT decided to compile a listof ways this election has been completely “off the map.” Here are just a few of their discoveries. For the complete list, click here.

In 2014, Jeb Bush announced his candidacy and put his family in line for an unprecedented third member in the White House.

In 2015, Hillary Clinton had an unprecedented lead in endorsements even before launching her campaign. Jeb Bush took in a previously unheard-of haul early in the election cycle. Due to new campaign finance laws, the majority of campaign donations were concentrated in an unprecedentedly small group. FOX News’s debates broke viewership records. And Donald Trump’s proposal of a ban on Muslims entering the country was, according to The New York Times, “an unprecedented proposal by a leading American presidential candidate, and an idea more typically associated with hate groups.”

Meanwhile, in 2016, the Republican Party has seen unprecedented splintering and factionalizing. The lack of support from party leaders for the GOP’s presumptive nominee is unheard of. John Kasich and Ted Cruz formed a pact against the frontrunner—something never seen before. Ted Cruz chose a running mate without being close to winning the nomination. Bernie Sanders was given unprecedented control over the Democratic Party’s platform. And Hillary Clinton has seen an unheard of number of female contributors to her campaign.