I have to be honest, I am a little disappointed in this community. I come on this morning and find many different articles talking about the next few years and how we are doomed for all eternity because things didn’t work out exactly the way we wanted. Let me provide a little of my perspective.
We beat an incumbent president. Something that hasn’t happened in 28 years. This president and his party :
- Slowed the delivery of mail-in ballots at the post office.
- Made voting difficult for many during the pandemic by moving polling sites, drop boxes, etc.
- Removed millions of eligible voters from voter roles (It happened in my home state of WI)
- Used race, hatred, and other bile to motivate their base.
- Continued to hold rallies. This excites and motivates voters
- Did door-to-door canvasing nearly unopposed because our side rightly wanted to prevent the spread of disease. This again can drive turnout.
- Had an entire right-wing media industry pushing their point of view
We had huge handicaps in this race. I would bet all of this counted for at least a 3% shift in the outcome. President-elect Biden will do a good job as president, but let's be honest, he doesn’t have the star power of other politicians. Former President Trump, while we cannot see it, was very popular with his voters and motivated massive turnout on their side. It didn’t matter, because we turned out more.
Some other things to consider.
- Do you think all those rural, non-frequent voters, are really going to show up for any other Republican? Romney? Graham? Rubio? Christy? Puhleez.
- We won freeking Gerogia this time! Georgia! If Georgia is a swing state, good luck to the GOP.
- The demographic trends are going to continue in our direction and young people saw their power. I work at a university and I have been talking to my students about the election. They have realized that they are now in control. They plan to continue to vote and get all their friends to vote. They saved America guys.
- We retained the house in the face of historic gerrymandering. I hope we can unwind some of that in the next few years. The experts can advise us here about how to move forward.
The new administration faces a treaturous path. The art is going to be trying to get things done, and when blocked by the senate make sure everyone knows that the GOP is at fault. Messaging is going to be paramount. I hope they are up to it.