“He (Trump) may not be the perfect messenger, but the message resonates. Democracy is a luxury when you can’t pay your bills.” — CNN Pundit David Urban on how Trump won.
It is shocking me that so many people are shocked that Trump won. I feel that many of us simply did not understand the dire straights that the Democratic Party was in. Many Democrats made assumptions/guesses about how Harris would win that turned out to be false. But those assumptions should not have been made in the first place.
Look at the DailyKos CIVIQS polling on the bottom of the site’s home page, for the question “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling his job as president?” The current answer: 54% Disapprove, 37% Approve. NOTE: only 37% approve.
Look at the DailyKos CIVIQS polling on the bottom of the site’s home page, for the question “Do you think things in this country are headed in the right direction, or have they gotten off on the wrong track?” The current answer: 62% Wrong Direction, 29% Right Direction. NOTE: 62% say wrong direction.
How could people possibly think that Democrats could win an election in the face of such horrible numbers?
These numbers were staring right at us. They were there for all to see. Folks should have looked at that — and many people did do this — and been very concerned about Harris overcoming that.
Yet many thought that Harris could win, despite such horrible numbers. But that was based on two, what I call assumptions, that turned out to be false. The first assumption was the gender gap between male and female voters would propel Harris to victory. But that was a mirage, fool’s gold. While it does appear more women voted for Harris than Trump, the male vote for Trump counter-balanced that. And I believe that the white women’s vote went for Trump. Feel free to correct me if you have the latest numbers.
Bottom line is, the gender gap, which many people counted on to make a difference, did not make a difference. So, if the gender gap wasn’t going to be decisive for a Democratic win, then what would? Fear of a Trump presidency?
Well, this is where CNN pundit David Urban comes in. “Democracy is a luxury when you can’t pay your bills.” Well, is it that simple? For a significant enough number of Americans — enough Americans for Trump to get to the 51% threshold — the answer is yes.
We have to go back to the CIVIQS numbers. A majority of Americans disapproved of the Biden(Harris) administration, and believed the country was headed in the wrong direction. Why would those people reward Harris with four years in light of such misgivings?
Those people wanted, needed a vessel, a messenger to vent their negativity at the Biden(Harris) administration and the state of the nation. Even a GOP pundit like David Urban admits Trump not a “perfect messenger.” Even many Trump voters did not believe he was a “perfect messenger.”
BUT THOSE VOTERS HAD NO OTHER OPTION TO VENT THEIR FRUSTRATION/ANGER BIDEN(HARRIS) ADMINISTRATION AND THE STATE OF THE NATION.
Too many observers believed that despite such negative polling for the Biden administering, and its handling of the economy and the border, Harris could pull it out on the women’s vote and concerns over democracy. But enough of the public wasn’t buying it.
Which we should have known could, or would happen. With the polls at 50-50, and the Democrats underwater for administration approval, right/wrong direction, the economy, and immigration, Harris supporters should have been very afraid. But they were extremely hopeful… and now those hopes have been dashed.
I want to state my agreement with those who have commended Harris for the race she won. She had a hundred days to build a campaign, and faced strong head winds. In retrospect: Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to chose a presidential candidate who was the most identified with a Biden administration that was overwhelming unpopular. But given the short amount of time available to make a change in candidate, there weren't that many choices.
There are many people here, and elsewhere, who are going to challenge the notion that “Democracy is a luxury when you can’t pay your bills.” They will argue, correctly, that this is how the Nazi guy got started.
But in the American systems, the choice for president is pretty much binary. Voting for Trump — or staying home and not voting — was the only way for many people to “protest” or “vent” or show their frustration with the status quo.
A status quo that CIVIQS showed us was unacceptable for most Americans.
Will Americans be happy with their choice? I doubt it. Trump won with 51% of the vote. But it is essential to realize: This was both a pro-Trump vote and an anti-Biden vote. That coalition ~ Trump lovers and Biden “haters” ~ put Trump over the top.
If 2020 is an indicator, a lot of people will be hating Trump by the end of his second term. I fear for my country in the meantime.
