The (Not Quite) Bloodless Revolution of 2016: Parallels Between “Hamilton” and the Election

By Brendan Dailey, Staff Writer

It’s no secret that the presidential election of 2016 has been a brutal one. Each debate pained my soul, hurt my eyes, and shocked my ears. Ted Cruz suggested we monitor Muslim neighborhoods. Hillary Clinton had no answer for why she was paid 200,000 per Goldman Sachs speech. Bernie Sanders said “damn emails” which was looped and put into far too many internet vines, and Donald Trump literally bragged about the size of his Johnson (yes that’s a presidential pun) on live TV. The two candidates that won the grueling and drawn out primary process were Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Now Secretary Clinton has been involved in public service for thirty or so years now, and regardless of your view of her, her unfavorable ratings are unprecedentedly high. Yet with those high unfavorable numbers, Donald Trump tops or ties her in virtually every poll. Now they did win the primary process. They received more of the popular vote than their competitors, but they obviously also seem to be unpopular at the same time. Is it pure coincidence that the new Broadway musical “Hamilton” has received so much praise? Is it pure coincidence that Lin-Manual Miranda’s (the writer, composer and actor for Hamilton) final performance is going for as much as 22,000 dollars for ONE ticket? I want to investigate whether there are any correlations between the ugly presidential election and the overwhelming success of the Broadway show.

Now, I want to offer a disclaimer before I go into my analysis. I have not had the honor of seeing the Broadway show myself. At this rate as a poor college student, it would have to be on Broadway for as long as “Phantom of the Opera” in order to drive prices down enough for me to see it. With that said, I have listened over and over again to the soundtrack in my car. It’s truly amazing. Not only is it a brief overview of early American history/politics, it’s an overview beautifully blended with modern musical sounds to further intrigue people interest in each and every line of each and every song. The numerous Tony awards also do a justice to its appeal and genius. With all of that said, I think it is interesting to see when this show’s popularity came to be, and just how successful it’s become. Lin-Manual Miranda was on the cover of rolling stone for crying out loud. I’d like to offer my opinion on maybe there being a correlation between the two.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton. These are all wildly recognized and popular names in American history. Whether you think the founding fathers should be held to the same standard of people today, or not, there is no denying their popularity on our currency, in our high school and college history classes, or bookstores across America. People, for the most part, in the U.S. are sure they like Thomas Jefferson because he wrote the Declaration of Independence. They are sure they like George Washington for his role in the American Revolution and as the first president. People are sure they like James Madison for being the father of the Constitution. And to state the obvious, people know they like Alexander Hamilton for his political achievements and role of protagonist in the musical. People feel sure that they like the founding fathers. They may disagree on which ones did more for America, or which ones are over/underrated, but for the most part, people are sure they like the founding fathers.

At a time when two of the most talked about political figures are viewed so poorly by the public, I don’t think it can be entirely ruled out that the Broadway show is benefiting from some of that hate. I’m of the sentiment that people are subconsciously at a loss for popular political figures in general, and they feel much more comfortable relishing in the past. They want to be reminded of the people that they are sure did “good things” for a young and vulnerable America. The timing of the two couldn’t be any closer. Ted Cruz was the first who announced he was running for president in March of 2015, most candidates followed in May or June, and by August the media was buzzing with presidential politics. Here’s the kicker. The first republican debate had about 24 million viewers on Fox News. This took place on the night of August 6th of 2015. Before Hamilton debuted on Broadway it had 30 million dollars in pre-ticket sales. The night Hamilton debuted on Broadway? August 6th, 2015. I’ not arguing some Illuminati conspiracy theory; however, it’s extremely interesting that the show debuted on the same night of one of the highest watched presidential debates in the history of the United States. The date is purely coincidental, I’m sure of that, but the rising popularity of both seems too strange to be mere coincidence. Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly brutally attacked one another. Rand Paul and Chris Christie aggressively shared their different views on the U.S. constitution. The media ate it up. People watched as the candidates ripped into one another. As the election went on, the narrative on the Republican Party stayed the same, while the Democratic race started off friendly and kind, but quickly turned sour and vitriolic.

The race dragged on (and continues to do so), while Hamilton soars. It outpaced the Lion King to become the most popular show on Broadway. It was nominated for 16 Tony awards and successfully took home 11 of those, while also winning a Grammy. The actors and actresses have also seen huge amounts of success, while Lin-Manuel Miranda has been critically acclaimed by writers, composers, and some historians for making a musical historically accurate with some obvious exceptions. Again, I want to stress that the show clearly speaks for itself with how successful it is, and all the people involved in its production deserve ample amounts of credit. With that said I do find it interesting how it has risen to fame at exactly the same time as the grueling 2016 presidential election. I hope to one day be either old enough, rich enough, or lucky enough to see the show, and I also hope that someday soon this presidential race will end so that we can again focus on more important issues than who Donald Trump offended, or which position Hillary Clinton has flip-flopped on. What I take away from this is that when people feel disparaged, they often look to more gleeful moments in the past. They look to revisit the accomplishments of founding fathers in order to remind them that there is hope and that every election will not be as grueling as this election. Thomas Jefferson called the election of 1800 “The bloodless Revolution of 1800;” I wonder what the hell he would call the election of 2016? I’m assuming it would be very much of the contrast.