Okay, I admit it. I was totally shocked by the results of the 2024 presidential election. To add to my surprise, Trump even won the popular vote, the first time a Republican candidate has done so since George Bush beat John Kerry in 2004.
Where did I go wrong? How did I — and millions of Americans — so misjudge the mood of the electorate? Why were Trump voters willing to overlook the horrific Jan. 6, 2001, insurrection and proclaim: “Give me four more years of that guy”? Call me naïve, but that event alone should have disqualified Trump from ever holding public office again. And if that wasn’t enough, the dire warnings of generals who worked under Trump should have sunk his chances. They didn’t.
On many of today’s major issues, such as gun control, abortion and climate change, the Democrats hold the edge over the Republicans. But that didn’t carry the day.
Kamala totally outperformed Trump on the campaign trail. She clobbered him in the debate so badly that he was afraid to debate again. Despite Kamala’s debate victory, millions of American apparently believe that Kamala wouldn’t be strong enough to stand up to dictators, even though Trump was afraid to stand up to Kamala. Go figure.
I thought Americans would be disgusted by Trump’s rantings during his campaign rallies. He called Kamala — and anyone else who didn’t kowtow to him — vile names and threatened to wreak revenge on his enemies. Nah, many Americans were just fine with the bully-in-the-schoolyard approach. “That’s just Trump being Trump,” they protested, “He didn’t really mean it.” And besides, they hated the way that Kamala giggled all the time. Hmmmmm … I guess calling people ugly names is more presidential than giggling. My bad.
I thought that the millions of evangelical Christians who have consistently supported Trump — a person whose life and actions run so counter to the teachings of Jesus Christ — would finally come to their senses. They didn’t.
I do think Biden made a huge mistake when he chose to run again. An open Democratic primary would have better served the voting public. Incidentally, it’s telling that a Hispanic man who voted for Kamala said that most Hispanic men will never vote for a woman for president. It should also be noted that after Trump won, Afghanistan’s Taliban offered its “congratulations to the American people for not handing leadership of their great country to a woman.”
In sum, I thought that Americans were ready to turn the page on Trump, but they weren’t. I was wrong.
What issues, then, swung the deal for Trump? Certainly, he was helped by the matter of inflation, especially the rising costs of food and housing. Some people would argue that presidents can’t control those costs. Indeed, economic experts have written that a sharp increase in tariffs, as proposed by Trump, would increase inflation. Trump, being Trump, assured all his cult members and everyone else that everything would be wonderful under a new Trump regime. Prices would go down, taxes would be cut, “illegals” would be rounded up and tossed out, the budget would be balanced, all wars would end and America would again be respected in the world. Ever heard of Elmer Gantry?
Some commentators have noted, perhaps rightly that voters are fed up with what they term “wokeness.” For example, they’re against letting boys who have become — or identify themselves as — girls compete against other girls. Actually, I agree with them on that issue, and I made that point in an article last year. Some liberal friends took me to task for doing so.
They’re also fed up with the whole he/him/they, she/her/they nonsense. Again, I agree with them. I recently saw a piece in the Belmont Massachusetts newspaper in which the new Nordic skiing coach was referred to throughout as “they.” I said to Tina, “Why do they do that?”
On two other fronts. The phrase “defund the police” was totally stupid. And students were totally wrong to shut down college campuses to protest the tragedy in Gaza. Such events no doubt hurt Democrats in the 2024 elections.
That said, I sure wouldn’t take out my frustration with “woke” trends or nonsensical slogans by helping put a total con man in charge of the nuclear codes.
No one knows what the next four years will bring. I’m comforted that constitutional law expert Laurence Tribe believes that there will be enough guard rails in place to prevent Trump from running totally amok and destroying democracy. So far he’s eluded all accountability. Moreover, the Trump-friendly Supreme Court has shown little resolve to preserve its judicial independence. Let’s just wait and see. And hope.
In next week’s column, I’ll address my thoughts for dealing with life after the election of Trump.
David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com.