Election 2016 Update: Feb. 26, 2016

THE PUBLIC vs. ESTABLISHMENT POLITICS

As we look at the U.S. Presidential primary races and caucuses in late Feb. 2016, we see how themes from 2015 keep reiterating themselves: The voting public is guided in one direction by corporate media (to support establishment politics, keep the corporate-oligarchy dominant, and give the illusion of consensus). But the current planetary configurations indicate that the larger public is becoming more dissatisfied with the status quo, especially regarding financial inequality, and therefore more anti-establishment. They want a candidate who will fight for them and not for establishment politics, which has only widened the already historic inequality gap. This in turn challenges Big Media, which is invested in keeping the status quo and has moved towards the Right since becoming more and more consolidated, from 1983.

The Anti-Establishment mood is also why Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have drawn by far the largest and most enthusiastic crowds across the nation since summer 2015. Trump has been the ongoing GOP front-runner, while the less-known Sanders has had a longer climb as Democratic challenger to Hillary Clinton. The planetary description for these events comes from several factors, some of them broadcasting their effects months in advance. This includes transiting Rahu conjoined with tr. Jupiter (Jan. 9 to Aug. 12, 2016), the JU-SA squares March 23 and May 26, 2016, respectively, impacting planets at 22:19 and 19:36 Taurus-Leo-Scorpio; Saturn turning Stationary Retrograde at 22:20 Scorpio March 25, 2016; and the upcoming eclipses March 8 and 23, 2016. Shortly we will discuss the eclipses and other details on these planetary factors. Some of them were covered in my most recent article: https://edithhathaway.com/election-2016-update-jan-28-2016/#more-812

Political royalty and establishment figures do not fare well in this environment. Jeb Bush’s campaign languished for many months before he finally called it quits on Feb. 20, 2016, despite having by far the largest amount of establishment funding (over $103.2 million as of mid-October 2015) and the big family name. Support for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton continues into late February 2016, though she never expected any serious threat for the nomination and certainly benefits from name recognition, especially among African American voters. But this may also account for her poor Favorability ratings with the general public. Currently Clinton has 53.6% Unfavorable and 40.0% Favorable (Huffpost Pollster, tracking 369 polls from 40 pollsters). Sanders has been steadily rising in Favorability, with 49.0% Favorable and 38.3% Unfavorable (Huffpost Pollster, tracking 97 polls from 17 pollsters). Donald Trump fares even worse than Clinton in these polls, with 57.6% Unfavorable and 36.1% Favorable (Huffpost Pollster, tracking 103 polls from 18 pollsters).

And while the general public is becoming increasingly upset with the ruling oligarchy, Clinton continues to talk the language of populism, moving more leftward to match her opponent’s rhetoric. Meanwhile, she is heavily supported by many establishment allies – all her allies in the Democratic Party establishment (notably the Superdelegates and the DNC chairman), Big Media, Big Banks, Super PACS, et. al. She has one of the largest and most potent corporate-backed political machines in recent memory. Therefore, corporate media coverage of the Democratic candidates is bound to favor Clinton, and it has done so to date, ignoring Sanders for most of 2015 and focusing instead on Trump and the many GOP candidates, or even Vice President Joe Biden, who never entered the race. But with so much recent clamor to release transcripts of Clinton’s Goldman Sachs speeches (which began weeks earlier when Sanders challenged her on this issue), corporate media finally started to raise more questions by late February. Previously, on Jan. 30, 2016, The New York Times endorsed Clinton (as they did in 2008), and said this about her Wall Street ties:

“Mr. Sanders has scored some rhetorical points against Mrs. Clinton for her longstanding ties to Wall Street, but she has responded well, and it would be comical to watch any of the Republican candidates try to make that case, given that they are all virtually tied to, or actually part of, the business establishment.”

However, under more pressure to address concerns that her close ties to Wall Street might compromise her ability to rein in its excesses, The New York Times finally joined other media in pushing for the release of her speeches, three of which earned her $675,000 from Goldman Sachs over a 5-month period in 2013. She holds the speech transcripts and the rights to all of them, but has declined to release them until “everybody else does the same.” Sanders responded that his paid speeches amounted to ca. $1800, all donated to charity. http://commondreams.org/news/2016/02/26/clinton-promises-absolutely-absolutely-nothing-worry-about-wall-street-speeches

FRONT-RUNNER STATUS

According to various planetary factors, it is more likely that an anti-establishment candidate wins in Nov. 2016, and obviously Hillary Clinton does not fit that description. If she becomes the nominee for the Democratic Party, it becomes even more likely that an anti-establishment Republican will win in November. That would be either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz. But Clinton’s front-runner status for the Democratic nomination could change over the next few months, with tr. Mars in Scorpio for six months from Feb. 20^,2016 (where it is weak and troublesome with zero bindus in her 2^nd house), and during the eclipse month of March 2016, which can create upsets.

With the issue of her paid speeches mounting, this could be tr. Mars in Scorpio at work in Clinton’s 2^nd house of financial income and speech, as when it is weak or damaged Scorpio can bring up old business and anything hidden or scandalous. In this case speech and income are conjoined, as there is a perceived problem with money earned through her speeches. Though it did not seem likely she would lack massive funding for her campaign, it turns out that the sources of her funding are a big problem, at least for a Democrat promising to rein in Wall Street. The topic of her campaign is introduced in my article from May 2015, also including Clinton’s birth chart: https://edithhathaway.com/hillary-clinton-2016-u-s-presidential-campaign-some-early-clues/#more-59

On the GOP side thus far, Donald Trump retains his front-runner status, and astrologically this is confirmed by his having the strongest chart among all the GOP contenders, as I noted in my article “Trump it Up” (Dec. 21, 2015). https://edithhathaway.com/trump-it-up/#more-625

Though he has been showered with media attention since the start of his campaign in June 2015, Trump has had conflicts with the media, notably Fox News, and complains constantly about the media in general: “These are the most dishonest people, bad people,” Trump says. His avid supporters echo that disdain, and regarding his over-the-top rhetoric about Muslims, Mexicans, immigrants and anyone who crosses him – his supporters seem to love him for it, and not in spite of it. Now in late Feb. 2016, with his seemingly unstoppable march towards the GOP nomination, Trump promises to change the libel laws, saying “when The New York Times or The Washington Post writes a hit piece, we can sue them.” This could undermine the first amendment and the freedom of the press.

I have said that tr. Rahu conjoined with tr. Jupiter (Jan. 9 to Aug. 12, 2016) is a big challenge for the media: Among other things Jupiter is the media and Rahu is the outsider or the foreigner creating upset and demanding change. So here is Trump challenging the media to be under his control as president, and on the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders has challenged the media over fair coverage and over the status quo Big Media wants to maintain. For instance, while corporate media is pushing for the passage of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), Sanders opposes it and was essentially censored by MSNBC when he started discussing the matter. MSNBC’s owner, Comcast, has lobbied heavily for TPP, and while MSNBC is touted as more friendly to liberal policies, in reality it is not, as long as corporate interests are in any way threatened. This is the whole point of Sanders’ presidential campaign and a seminal confrontation to corporatocracy in American politics, while Trump’s confrontation is seminal from another vantage point. https://theintercept.com/2016/02/22/msnbc-cuts-away-from-bernie-sanders-as-he-condemns-trans-pacific-partnership/

The success of Sanders this far into the presidential campaign is because his focus on issues, like that of Trump (but from a different perspective) touches a raw nerve among so many Americans who not only know about but experience massive loss of jobs and inequality on so many levels, including enormous student debt.

While Trump dislikes negative media coverage on himself and wants to control it, Sanders also suffers when corporate media either ignores him (as in 2015) or works all too often to spread smears about him, while failing to investigate Clinton’s weak points, such as the burgeoning collection of e-mails during her years as Secretary of State and her close ties and funding to all the major industries, including Wall Street: http://usuncut.com/politics/5-times-media-got-caught-lying-about-bernie/

Examples abound in which Sanders’ positive factors in the race are minimized while Clinton’s are maximized. Soon after her 5-point win in Nevada Feb. 20th, Clinton’s expected coronation was quickly heralded across corporate media. Never mind she had finally won her first state outright, having lost to Sanders on Feb. 9 by a 22-point margin in New Hampshire and won Feb. 1 in Iowa only by a miniscule 0.25% margin, a virtual tie. What corporate media emphasizes instead is Clinton’s win in Nevada, paving the way to a “clear path to the nomination.” This is partly achieved through using pundits praising Clinton when often their financial and consultant ties to the Clinton campaign are not disclosed on the air or in print: http://www.democracynow.org/2016/2/26/lee_fang_tv_pundits_praise_hillary

What goes under-reported is that despite his loss to Clinton in Nevada, Sanders is winning the Latino vote and the vote of those under age 45, especially the 18 to 30 yr. old group. Nevada has the 11^th highest Latino voter population in the U.S. and is followed by primary races in 10 more states with a total of more than 6 million registered Latino voters. These all occur between March 1 and March 22.

Clinton leads among various demographics, including African-Americans, but Sanders won in every demographic in New Hampshire and he won by the largest margin of victory in NH primary politics in 50 years. In the youth vote thus far his favorable margin is also remarkable, at 84%. In fact, the youth vote in general is so liberal as to terrify Right-wing political consultant and pollster Frank Luntz, who found that 66% of his young poll respondents said that corporate America “embodies everything that is wrong about America.” Their no. 1 issue is “income inequality,” aligning with Sanders’ no. 1 issue as a candidate. https://theintercept.com/2016/02/24/top-gop-pollster-young-americans-are-terrifyingly-liberal/

THE MARCH 2016 ECLIPSES

In March 2016 there are 26 major primaries and caucuses across the United States, starting March 1 – which is also Super Tuesday, when primaries or caucuses are held in a dozen or more states or territories. During March 2016 there are also two eclipses, and the month surrounding eclipses is bound to be more intense than other months, especially when there is a Total eclipse, and leading up to that eclipse. At the time of the Total Solar eclipse on March 8, 2016 there is a Shoola yoga, i.e. all planets in only three houses/signs. In Sanskrit Shoola means “thorn” or “spike” and in an individual’s chart life issues are increasingly intensified the fewer houses planets occupy, notably three or less. Adding to the drama is a near-Kala Sarpa yoga, with only Jupiter narrowly outside the perimeters of Rahu and Ketu. As Rahu and Ketu are snake-like, the Kala Sarpa yoga is said to be affected by “the serpent of time.” Needless to say, all these patterns add to the fated effects of the Total Solar eclipse, whose path goes over Indonesia and a large swath of the Pacific Ocean to the northeast of it, though not reaching the North American continent.

The Total Solar eclipse on March 8, 2016 (24:50 Aquarius) is followed by the Annular Lunar eclipse March 23, 2016 (9:12 Virgo). Three days later is the last of the March primaries and caucuses, on March 26. Total eclipses are always more impactful, especially those that coincide with strong planetary configurations and events, as in this case, with the Jupiter-Saturn square (March 23 and May 26, 2016), involving tr. Mars and Saturn in Scorpio and tr. Jupiter and Rahu in Leo. On March 25, 2016 tr. Saturn turns Stationary Retrograde at 22:20 Scorpio. Also notable are eclipses that come close to the exact degree of prior powerful eclipses. We see this happening between the partial Solar eclipse from Sept. 13, 2015 (26:05 Leo) and the Total Solar eclipse March 8, 2016 (24:50 Aquarius).

List of eclipses: 2015 and 2016 (sidereal zodiac):

March 20, 2015: Total Solar eclipse at 5:23 Pisces

April 4, 2015: Total Lunar eclipse at 20:19 Virgo

Sept. 13, 2015: Partial Solar eclipse at 26:05 Leo

Sept. 28, 2015: Total Lunar eclipse at 10:35 Pisces

March 8, 2016: Total Solar eclipse at 24:50 Aquarius

March 23, 2016: Lunar eclipse at 9:12 Virgo

Sept. 1, 2016 : Solar eclipse at 15:15 Leo

Sept. 16, 2016 : Lunar eclipse at 0:14 Pisces

“Eclipses conjunct or opposite the Sun, Ascendant or Midheaven are always more powerful. This is due to the fact that these points have zero latitude by definition. The eclipse will always have zero latitude. Thus, there will be conjunctions and oppositions in both longitude and latitude which are very powerful.”

Bill Meridian, The Predictive Power of Eclipse Paths, 2010, p. 10. [The author cites astrologer/researcher Charles Jayne for this concept.]

Considering these three factors of Sun, Ascendant or Midheaven, Bernie Sanders is the only Democratic candidate with Sun and Midheaven (MC) close to the eclipse degrees in 2015 and 2016. His natal Sun is at 22:06 Leo; MC at 25:12 Aquarius. Also, his 10^th house cusp is at 16:44 Pisces and Ascendant lord Mercury is at 8:04 Virgo. His Mercury is close to two important eclipse points, the Total Lunar eclipse of Sept. 28, 2015 (10:35 Pisces) and the Lunar eclipse of March 23, 2016 (9:12 Virgo). This should point to some rather fated series of events favoring the promotion of Sanders, especially as the Sun symbolizes leadership and receives emphasis not only by a Total Solar eclipse, but by the JU-SA square on March 23rd at 22:19 Leo-Scorpio and tr. Saturn SR at 22:20 Scorpio on March 25th. (Birth data for Sanders: Sept. 8, 1941, 1:05 am EDT, author’s rectified time, Brooklyn, NY (King’s county), USA.)

Hillary Clinton’s Moon (10^th house lord) is at 29:40 Aquarius and is the nearest planet to any of the eclipse degrees. Her Moon is in Parivartana yoga with Saturn in Cancer, forming a Raja yoga. Among Republican candidates, front-runner Donald Trump has no major planets close to the eclipse degrees of 2015 or 2016, though natal Jupiter (R) is at 24:20 Virgo and the Total lunar eclipse of April 4, 2015 was at 20:19 Virgo. His Ascendant is at 6:55 Leo; thus, the closest eclipse is the one on Sept. 1, 2015 at 15:15 Leo, with a gap of 8:05 to his Ascendant. Ted Cruz has Class C birth data, so his Ascendant at 11:04 Virgo is not as reliable. If it were, his Ascendant would come close to the Lunar eclipse March 23, 2016 at 9:12 Virgo. Marco Rubio has no natal planets on the eclipse axis for 2015 or 2016, though he has five planets impacted by tr. Saturn in Scorpio. (His data is Class X, i.e. time of day unknown.) Donald Trump also has five planets on the Taurus-Scorpio-Leo axis, but none of them closer than 5 degrees to the Saturn SR degree, which is also the JU-SA square axis.

I have said that Clinton could run into difficulties as early as Jan. 2016, and that is when polls showed a gradual slide downward for her, in spite of her formidable political machine and funding. As of early Jan. 2016 the Clinton campaign said their internal polls indicated they were leading rival Bernie Sanders by 25 points in the Nevada caucuses to be held Feb. 20, 2016. In the end, Clinton won by 5 points. One of the major factors in Nevada was the Latino vote, as mentioned earlier. Entrance polls showed that Sanders won the Latino vote in Nevada by 8 points: 53% to 45%. In 2008 Clinton the Latino vote by 64% to 26% over Obama.

After Nevada, Sanders is just a few delegates behind Clinton, though she has an advantage to date in Superdelegates and she is expected to win South Carolina on Feb. 27, 2016. From that point onward, March should prove to be a very dramatic period, and one that will be fiercely fought by all candidates. Because March has two eclipses, along with the Saturn SR and JU-SA square (first of two), all of these affecting the Total Solar eclipse of March 8^th, we can expect a wild ride through Super Tuesday and beyond, but especially leading up to March 8^th. From March 1 to March 8, 2016 there are 27 of these Presidential primary events, if one includes every single event, such as Democrats Abroad and American Samoa, among others, though Super Tuesday on March 1st looms large, with the most number of primaries and caucuses on one day.

The JU-SA square chart for May 26, 2016 indicates that Democrats keep the White House but that an insurgent candidate is more likely, as discussed in my previous article. Further, the March eclipses may favor Sanders, as discussed.

UN-REPORTED OR UNDER-REPORTED

With Clinton still leading Sanders to date in many polls, what are we missing that may be unreported or under-reported in corporate news? Or perhaps not accounted for in various polls? We have already noted at the outset that corporate media strives to give the illusion of consensus. Among other factors, we note that to date Sanders leads Clinton by six points in a major national poll (Reuters) since the Iowa Caucuses Feb. 1, 2016. http://www.salon.com/2016/02/24/bernie_sanders_has_led_hillary_clinton_in_this_major_national_poll_nearly_all_month/

And while Clinton is still leading in many states, her lead has been narrowing since early Jan. 2016 and has been topped in many places. This coincides with the effects of tr. Mars in Scorpio in her 2^nd house from Feb. 20, 2016, as well as my general dictum that political royalty should not be favored in 2016 due to the effects of Jupiter and Rahu in Leo. This same combination indicates a challenge to establishment media, so that what their pundits announce or report on may not be an accurate reflection of reality, as indicated in several stories documented in this article. What also goes under-reported is how Bernie Sanders matches up more competitively to the leading Republican nominees, notably to front-runner, Donald Trump. Here are recent polls, current as of Feb. 25, 2016:

Huffington Post Average of Recent Polls

Sanders: 51% to Trump 41% +10 points

Clinton: 48% to Trump 44% +4 points

Real Clear Politics Average

Sanders: 47.5% to Trump 41.5% +6 points

Clinton: 45.3% to Trump 42.5% +3 points

Fox News

Sanders: 53% to Trump 38% +15 points

Clinton: 47% to Trump 42% +5 points

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Selected References

[ This article appears in the March 2016 issue of Astrologic magazine, an on-line magazine.]

Edith Hathaway

Vedic Astrology