Good morning,
I’ve received a lot of observations about the election over the past 48 hours. I have a few thoughts after pondering the election for a couple of days…
My take is that people voted on the economy, fear of immigrants, a feeling they were electing a “strong” president, and a nostalgia for the Trump years that, frankly, escapes me. Perhaps it is a desire of some to be heard, perhaps a reaction to the more extreme messages from the left, perhaps the omnipresent “cultural issues,” and perhaps a feeling, regardless of how unfounded it may seem to some of us, that people are pouring across our borders and disrupting our economy.
It is clear to me that the message of “staying the course” of the Biden administration didn’t resonate with a population that believed that administration was a failure (even though I think it was far from that). Advertising, even that which is divisive, angry, and even misleading, nonetheless can expose certain truths. The endless ads this past month, particularly during the baseball playoffs, that focused on Harris’s support of transgender surgery for prison inmates painted an unfair picture of her that didn’t play well in many quarters. Rather than responding to this ad with either a change of heart or an explanation that it was merely an opinion and not top of her agenda, was a tactical error. It also was a tactical error not to acknowledge errors in the Biden administration’s responses to inflation and immigration. On inflation, she needed to suggest they did a lot, but perhaps not quite enough, while clearly juxtaposing her economic policy against Trump’s, showing the inflationary aspects of his. On immigration, I think all it might have taken was an acknowledgement of not moving fast enough, but showing that now they are and the proof is in the numbers. Not fessing up to one’s weaknesses and asking forgiveness is deadly.
Perhaps explaining the election result is even simpler than my musings, the pundits, and the experts. Perhaps the populace just likes Trump more than they like Harris. Perhaps they wanted to hear a campaign focused more on “what I’m going to do” and less on “the other guy’s horrible.” Perhaps people were looking for something to vote FOR, but all they were fed was what they should want to be AGAINST. As debaters know, too much focus on defense, without a strong offense, is a recipe for a loss.
Clearly people were willing to overlook Trump’s behaviors, words, and threats, in return for something else, while arguing much of what he says he “doesn’t really mean.” We will see if that explanation is at all true. My prediction is to expect a lot of relatively small, largely symbolic, actions in the first month, followed by a somewhat more deliberate attack on certain issues. I suspect Democrats’ worst fears will not be realized and MAGA’s most expansive ambitions may not be top of the agenda. We’re a strong nation with institutions that have worked for nearly 250 years. We’ve been through rockier waters. I believe we can survive this and perhaps even thrive.
In any case, some thoughtful observations from friends:
From a long-time correspondent, summarizing what he’s been telling me for months:
“The price of eggs, Glenn. The price of eggs.”
From a friend, quoting from A Christmas Carol: “Jacob,” he said, imploringly. “Old Jacob Marley, tell me more. Speak comfort to me, Jacob!” “I have none to give,” the Ghost replied.
From one of the hardest working Democrats in the business:
“Kamala ran a perfect campaign. She didn't run on trans and DEI.
She ran on working across the aisle and lifting up the middle class.
He ran on hate, threats, swearing, racism and greed.
The more he swore and threatened and belittled the more they love him.
We are not split. The country spoke overwhelmingly. They laugh at the thoughts of women dying while pregnant, Hispanics being carted away and vaccines being taken away.
They spoke loud and clear. The media was complicit.”
A hopeful message from a friend whom I believe supported Trump:
“I hope we can get past this election and find ways of working together to improve our communities, our nation, and our world, humbled by the painful divisiveness of the past several years and desirous of turning the page to a new chapter. I am worried but I also am hopeful.”
From a thoughtful, worried, friend:
“I’m on the side of those who believe Trump will do everything he has said he will do. Maybe not all on day one, but in a reasonably short time frame. I don’t think he can stand not to lord it over all those who opposed him. I hope I’m wrong, but On Tyranny rings in my head.”
From a friend evaluating the Democrats’ strategy:
Harris completely failed to define herself in any sort of stand alone manner. She simply picked up the baton from Biden and ran with it without expressing any personal beliefs or planned course changes. It certainly appeared that the Blue team was so glad to have changed quarterbacks in the fourth quarter that they didn’t bother to arm the replacement with anything but the (more of the same) playbook. A giant missed opportunity in my opinion and one we will be paying for over the next four years if not longer. The Democratic Party needs to take a hard look in the mirror and make substantive changes to its leadership.
From a friend’s post on Facebook:
“The truth is that a popular and electoral majority of Americans purchased as the next President a man who promised in very simple terms to fix their problems with a shoehorn, even at the cost of installing a wannabe fascist and a malignant narcissist in the Oval Office. NBC news has reported that 53 percent of American voters think that Trump is too extreme (a figure that includes his own supporters), but 51 percent voted for him. Most American voters have become almost entirely transactional, offering their votes in exchange for immediate rewards (or the shameless promise of them). And Trump is the used car dealer who has sold us the Ford Pinto.
A majority of the voters chose good salesmanship over good character, and foreign policy be damned.”
WORDS OF HOPE
Adam Torson’s quotation of the day:
“One must say Yes to life and embrace it wherever it is found - and it is found in terrible places. … For nothing is fixed, forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.”
-- James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time (1963), as quoted by Henry Giroux in an Open Editorial entitled "Why Don't Americans Care About Democracy at Home?" Truthout (October 2, 2012)
IN CLOSING
In the words of a dear friend, the sun will continue to rise in the East; we’ll still go about our daily tasks, and life will go on. In the words of Annie, “the sun will come up tomorrow.” Literally, of course, this is correct. Metaphorically, perhaps it may be the day after tomorrow.
Have a good weekend,
Glenn
PS: Next week, my thoughts on why this was all Joe Biden’s doing and what I learned as a poll watcher…
I really enjoyed today's column. I feel that much of the reasons we are so polarized is due to the media on both "sides" and what can only be propaganda masquerading as news. Free speech yes, but accuracy? Not so much.
I think the answer is simple and could be easily predicted.
History has shown that when the economy is struggling the incumbent loses.