Even compared to other "political" writing in WoT, Elayne's rise to the Cairhienin Throne was a particularly clumsy bit of writing, in my opinion. First of all, my general annoyance with WoT-politics is that the method our main characters win it in the end, is always the author portraying all the other players as idiots. Except some few of their supporters, usually. It is impossible to set the bar of success lower than the Salidar Sitters, but never mind that, I seem to be rambling again.

What I particularly reacted to, however, was that Elayne never in this process tried to first steal the mantle as head of her Cairhienin House. The last head of House Damodred we saw was Caraline, I think, and no one else has taken the mantle to our knowledge even if she has left Cairhienin politics for Tear. A natural first step for Elayne should have been to either take the mantle for herself, or secure an ally (Galad?) in the High Seat. Among the group of Cairhienin nobles she so subtly bribes for the throne, no Damodred is mentioned. If she secured her claim for the High Seat and it wasn't mentioned, that would be kind of weird, right? Even weakened by the fallout of the Aiel War, House Damodred was seemingly quite powerful and should have been a natural building block in her rise to the throne. Right?

And if she haven't done this first, then how come she has large enough holdings in Cairhien to bestow some upon the disgraced andoran houses?

Am I missing something?