Donald Trump
I’m sitting here on election night, watching the blue wall fall and feeling dejected, but not as “taken off guard” as I felt in 2016 after Hillary Clinton lost her much-vaunted race against Agent Orange.
I am convinced that Donald J. Trump (and cohorts) have bought the presidency (Thanks, Elon!, she said ruefully) and misogyny, racism and incompetents in office are going to be the order of the day. Think about RFK, Jr. running Health Care. No, don’t think about it, if you can put that aside, which any sane, thinking individual cannot. It will just depress you further.
At least Vance is ostensibly a smart guy and has certainly learned how to suck up to power. He will be the future of the GOP/Trump Maga cult. Eat your heart out, Ron DeSantis!
FEARS
Donald Trump
I never felt that Harris had it “in the bag.” I sent a copy of a very insightful article about why not to a friend, which was pulled from a book that was written by Democratic strategists in 1970, pointing out where the Democratic party had lost its way, as far as determining the mood of the country. Just showing up at my local gym, run by young Black athletic types, told me how they viewed the geriatric Trump as way superior to Biden (then the candidate), and they definitely would not have been keen to vote for a woman to be Boss—even though it is past time.
I would not put anything past Donald Trump. He would order “hits” on people if it meant keeping himself out of jail and that is what this election meant to him. If Kamala Harris had been able to prevail, DJT would face consequences for his crimes and misdeeds, but now he’s going to be like a bull in a china shop. I wonder if I can take up a hobby that allows me to transport myself to another dimension in order to forget that we might face 4 years of DJT (unless he is successfully impeached, which looks unlikely now that Republicans are seizing the Senate) or worse.
DISGUST
I don’t feel sad so much as I feel disgusted. How dumb is the average rural voter that they can’t tell that the man is a congenital liar and you can’t believe a word he says? It seems to be rural voters who have prevailed to place him back in office. (Shame on you, Iowa!) Now we U.S. citizens will have to hang our heads in shame, worldwide. Richard Gere sold his house in the U.S. just in time. He is moving to Spain with his Spanish wife. [Good move, Richard!]
Many more savvy analysts than me will be analyzing this election for years, but I will just give you some thoughts off the top of the head of the woman who was named Yahoo Content Producer of the Year for Politics in 2008. I knew that Obama was going to win in 2008 because I traveled all over following him. He represented change. We were sick of Bush and company and endless wars. The pendulum has a way of swinging and it has swung. I was not traveling the country with this year’s candidates and, therefore, had no “gut” feeling for who would win this thing. In fact, after 2016, I was concerned. As it turns out, I was concerned for good cause.
CHANGE
Barack Obama
People saying that “change” (even if it is change from an honorable person to a convicted criminal) is a powerful vote getter at all times. You had a man who lied constantly during his appearances and ranted on about how “bad” the country was doing—even though it wasn’t. He failed to mention what a terrible manager he was for Covid, but talked about higher grocery and gas prices (When did things NOT go up over time?) He failed to mention that we need to address climate change and, instead, called it a hoax. Good luck to us during this period of climate catastrophes brought on by people like DJT and good luck to the Ukraine!
Obama’s win represented change. The backlash to a Black man being elected to the White House is part of the racism that has now propelled a man (convicted way back in the 70s of refusing to rent to Blacks) into office again.
So, Change, Misogyny, Racism, and a guy who was literally running for his life, because if he lost, he probably could have gone to jail for his incitement of the January 6th coup.
MONEY TALKS
Let’s not forget the Big Money Donors (Elon Musk, anyone?) who got behind DJT. Or those like Jeff Bezos who did not have the courage to try to help the better candidate prevail (even though she is a woman. That, in and of itself, is difficult to overcome). Get ready for rich people to get richer, and poor people to get poorer.
DAVID AXELROD & VAN JONES
Photo by Lauren Gerson.David Axelrod
“She handled herself well. She tried to appeal to the better angels of people’s nature.” (from David Axelrod) He went on to say that her debate performance was one of the best ever and that was why Trump did not want to debate her a second time. My sister and I agreed, noting how the Democrats way back in 2000 showed the gracious way to behave during an election, even one that was probably handed to the opponent by the opponent’s Governor brother. The Trumps of life fight dirty and have no compassion or empathy or respect for science. “Drill, baby, drill!” is not the rallying cry that will save the planet, but rural America did not like the thought of giving up their gas-guzzling vehicles in favor of electric ones.
Van Jones thinks that Kamala’s own words beat her and mentions the phrase “Nothing comes to mind” used by the GOP in their attack ads. That WAS a bad ad. Van also brought up the Israel issue, which I felt was going to lose Harris the Michigan vote. “I can’t think of anything offhand” was disastrous, says Axelrod. She should have just said she was grateful to him and talked about the future and not criticized her mentor. I agree.
The Republican on the debate says that the “green new deal” was not what the American public wanted to buy. (“They were selling what the American public did not want to buy.”)
TRUMP’S REMARKS
West Palm Beach, Florida at 2:31 a.m.
“I’m proud to be an American” is playing in background. (Lee Greenwood)
Melania looks like the cat that swallowed the canary.
J.D. Vance is smiling smugly.
“Incredible movement….a movement like nobody’s ever seen before. The greatest political movement of all time. Never been anything like this before in this country. Help our country heal. We have a country that needs help and needs it very badly. We’re going to fix everything about our country, We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible Look what happened. Is this crazy? It’s a political victory that our country has never seen before,” from Trump.
“I will fight for you and your family. Every single day I will be fighting for you. I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe America. Will truly be the Golden Age of America. It will allow us to ‘make America great again. ’“We’re going to make you very happy and proud of your vote.”
North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Predicting 315 electoral votes for himself. Also glad to have won the popular vote.
Unprecedented and powerful mandate: control of the Senate.
Right now, 266 to 195 (Trump to Harris).
“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up, like a raisin in the sun?” When Al Gore failed to fight for the position in 2000, we lost 25 years of preparation against the catastrophes of climate change. We are now reaping that poor election choice, 25 years later. I can only assume that climate change will get worse, under Trump, before it gets better, because he has called climate change a hoax.
Good luck to us all.