The POTUS 2020 Post Mortem
So, the cataclysm has past and the sun still rose in the east every morning since the election and, is reality sets in, I feel confident the sun will continue to dip below the western horizon at the end of the day.
As none of the viable choices was going to be pain-free, there was only one truly bad scenario in this election: Questions of election fraud where the count is very slow and there is reason to suspect malfeasance.
Ah, yes. 2020: The gift that keeps on giving.
Some may think a post mortem analysis of the election is premature given the faint pulse left to the age of Trump as they press their case in the judicial system but I would like to cut into this rotten mess and dissect out the silver linings for both sides to see.
Let’s grab a knife shall we? Or an axe?
Despite the likely loss of the White House, it seems clear that conservatives and Republicans are the bigger winners. The “huuuge” voter turnout suggests at first glance that a new level of citizen engagement has been achieved, which is a positive for democracy in general. However, an intense hatred of Trump motivated the deciding margin and this source of energy will not be available to the left going forward. Will the legacy media continue to keep anti-Trump sentiment stoked to inspire their base? Sure but it won’t be the same as covering every word and Tweet by Trump as breaking news. Will legacy media outlets continue to characterize all conservatives and any liberals who disagree with the identitarian madness occurring on the left as racists? Sure but by definition, “Never Trumpers” who voted blue no longer exist and if the GOP learns valuable lessons, namely that their policies actually appeal to the electorate and they simply need a better salesman, then the tide will shift decidedly in their favor. There is a small indication that Hispanics and African-Americans were more favorable to Trump in 2020 compared to 2016. More importantly, Republicans will likely keep the Senate and they narrowed the gap in the House. They are well positioned to regain the House in 2022 and we all saw how effective the parliamentarian McConnell was at thwarting Obama’s agenda. A few years ago I may have said that the level of gridlock during the Obama years was harmful to the country but this time I see it as a blessing.
The silver lining is much dimmer for the Democrats. Liberals have their woman in place. The former senator from the left coast checks all the diversity boxes and she is smart and formidable. Yet, the notion that they have positioned Harris as a mid-term replacement to Biden is a shameful undercurrent to the enthusiasm for the incoming administration. Remember, VP-elect Harris did not win the party nomination. Biden had a centrist appeal that she lacks and while California has a lot to be proud of as a state, the country as a whole does not want to follow their direction. Kamala Harris would not have pulled the thin margin of victory in swing states to get the Democrats their win in 2020.
It’s not that she could not win because of her minority background or the fact that she is a woman. Harris has some of that same viper-mentality of Trump and is clearly motivated by personal ambition. I invite everyone to go review her questioning of then SCOTUS nominee Bret Kavanaugh and some of the other committee inquiries. Perhaps then Senator Harris is simply doing the partisan-job expected of her but her role in a very regrettable period of SCOTUS history sticks with many of us as does the disrespect she showed her running mate during the Democratic nomination process.
There is nothing wrong with being tough, smart and ambitious but a uniter she is not.
The lesser of two evils was again the deciding factor in our presidential election. There was never going to be any clear winners in 2020. Our two party system and the backroom oligarchy of technocrats that run it still rule the day. Trump was never going to be a leader for all Americans and made it pretty clear he had no desire to be so.
But many feel that Trump, as crude and distracted as he was, may have loosened the grip the unelected ascendant has on the reigns of power. Trump sympathizers see him as a rough instrument to break the status quo. The fact that he did so primarily for his own benefit is debatable and there can be no doubt that he alienated a lot of voters who would otherwise mostly support the issues on the conservative side of the ledger. He came to duke it out but threw too many haymakers in too many directions to be effective.
Regardless, the short term future appears brighter for conservatives and Republicans, especially if lessons can be learned and they take from Trump’s example a renewed ability to communicate their views confidently and clearly while leaving out the demagoguery and bombastic rhetoric we have seen this past 4 years.
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There are many voices out there with a similar analysis. One that comes to mind is Matt Taibbi. His alienation from both parties is similar to this writer’s. You can hear him discuss some of this with Megyn Kelly on her podcast of the same name, released Wednesday November 11th.
Written by: Malcolm Roland
