I must apologize for allowing irrational exuberance to get in the way of cold-blooded analysis. In my last Rant (No. 814), I permitted myself to become deluded by the bevy of polls, bolstered by TV and legacy media pundits and op-ed writers, to excite me into believing that the end of the decade-long Trump agony might be at hand.
An admittedly snap analysis of what went wrong follows. See, especially, items 12 and 13 below, what I think were the principal reasons for the tragic outcome.
1. Character Doesn’t Count
The vilest, lyingest, grossest, most reprehensible, convicted criminal and consensus worst president in our history is deemed presidential material? There are no longer any disqualifiers. Anything goes.
2. Celebrities Add Zilch
VP Harris spent gobs of time appearing alongside A-listers…to what end? They appear to have added nothing to her vote totals. I would argue that Oprah, Beyonce, J-Lo, the Obamas et al. may have even detracted from her support because they are the premier members of “the elite” that MAGA so despises. Hillary Clinton did the same thing in 2016. The purported competence of senior campaign officials who urged her to continue this practice, which was at best irrelevant, should have understood and vetoed this.
3. “Teflon” Isn’t Strong Enough
Ronald Reagan was known as “The Teflon Man.” Nothing stuck to him. Donald Trump has taken that moniker and writ it gigantic. Reagan is like flypaper compared to Trump’s teflon. With him, there is never any accountability for any of the awful things he does or says.
4. Polls Tell Us Nothing
Pollsters should hang it up and find another profession. They stink at their current one. Whoever came up with all the drivel about this election outcome? The poller-coaster needs to be shut down. Despite two prior examples of underestimating the silent Trump voters, they blew it sky-high once again. They assured us they had corrected for their past under-representation of Trump voters. They had not. Even Ann Seltzer, the formerly highly respected Iowan who takes the public pulse for the Des Moines Register, was way off the mark. Following the polls is a waste of time..
5. Pundits Are Pointless
So is listening to what the “experts” have to say. The TV commentators who presumably live, eat and breathe politics 24/7 so that they can inform and enlighten us about candidates and contests don’t know jack. CNN and MSNBC need to clean house and start all over.
6. Low-Information Voters Are Possibly A Majority…Or At Least A Plurality
There are a heck of a lot more of them than I ever believed. They have no idea what they have done to themselves and to the rest of us. If Trump goes forward with his campaign proposals, they will find out and it won’t be pretty. I don’t want to hear another word about the importance of a well-informed electorate. No way will we ever realize that pie-in-the-sky aspiration. Our school system has sidelined civics and history education for years and now we are suffering for it. The MAGA crowd should be careful what it asked for. They are about to get it good and hard. Unfortunately, so will the rest of us.
7. American Democracy Isn’t Even on Life Support
Americans were challenged to save something they don’t understand. For MAGA, Churchill’s famous quotation, “…democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried….” ends after the first seven words.
8. Realignment is Real
The nihilism, authoritarianism and dismissal of democracy that Trump unleashed is here to stay. The people have spoken. The Cult dominates. The Democratic Party is a shambles. The future is very bleak indeed.
9. Anger, Hate and Fear Are More Powerful Motivators Than Their Opposites
So much for the fine words, elevated thoughts and pear-shaped tones about hope and love and all that jazz. They cannot compete.
10. So Much for the Democrats’ Great Ground Game
VP Harris was deluded into believing yet another thing that did not work for Hillary Clinton eight years ago. Namely, that her impressive ground game was going to be the difference. Trump once again put paid to that delusion. He farmed out his meager ground game to Elon Musk and Charlie Kirk. Conclusion: you don’t need a ground game.
11.Misogyny and Racism Exist…
…and appear to be deeply ingrained in the American electorate. I listened to several interviews with women voters who said that a woman had no business in the White House. As an astute friend said: “A South Asian Black Woman candidate was the perfect storm.” Regretfully. Democrats may need to consider this unfortunate fact in 2028.
12. Whatever Happened to Reproductive Rights?
Where were all the supposedly highly motivated women hiding? Did they not get the memo Dems pushed so hard? Even dying mothers and ten-year old rape victims were not enough to shock a nation accustomed to a daily dose of shocks from Trump and his acolytes.
13. It’s ALWAYS the Economy, Stupid
Even a super-smart guy like James Carville fell for the delusion that we are past this eternal verity that he himself coined more than 30 years ago. The economy trumped everything else just like it always does. Moreover, presidents (and by association, vice presidents) get blamed when pocketbooks are stretched, no matter what the cause, and in Biden’s case, he was not the cause. The inflation was worldwide. The U.S. did better in this respect than any other country. No matter. Once that sinks in, the incumbent party has no chance. It is going to be fired. Kamala could not outrun high prices for basic goods. Unless the nation is immersed in a war for its very survival, Other issues don’t matter. I got snookered on this one. Carville aside, I should have known better.
Time to hunker down and figure out how to protect ourselves, our families, the nation and the world from the pending storm.
Dick Hermann
November 9, 2024
An admittedly snap analysis of what went wrong follows. See, especially, items 12 and 13 below, what I think were the principal reasons for the tragic outcome.
1. Character Doesn’t Count
The vilest, lyingest, grossest, most reprehensible, convicted criminal and consensus worst president in our history is deemed presidential material? There are no longer any disqualifiers. Anything goes.
2. Celebrities Add Zilch
VP Harris spent gobs of time appearing alongside A-listers…to what end? They appear to have added nothing to her vote totals. I would argue that Oprah, Beyonce, J-Lo, the Obamas et al. may have even detracted from her support because they are the premier members of “the elite” that MAGA so despises. Hillary Clinton did the same thing in 2016. The purported competence of senior campaign officials who urged her to continue this practice, which was at best irrelevant, should have understood and vetoed this.
3. “Teflon” Isn’t Strong Enough
Ronald Reagan was known as “The Teflon Man.” Nothing stuck to him. Donald Trump has taken that moniker and writ it gigantic. Reagan is like flypaper compared to Trump’s teflon. With him, there is never any accountability for any of the awful things he does or says.
4. Polls Tell Us Nothing
Pollsters should hang it up and find another profession. They stink at their current one. Whoever came up with all the drivel about this election outcome? The poller-coaster needs to be shut down. Despite two prior examples of underestimating the silent Trump voters, they blew it sky-high once again. They assured us they had corrected for their past under-representation of Trump voters. They had not. Even Ann Seltzer, the formerly highly respected Iowan who takes the public pulse for the Des Moines Register, was way off the mark. Following the polls is a waste of time..
5. Pundits Are Pointless
So is listening to what the “experts” have to say. The TV commentators who presumably live, eat and breathe politics 24/7 so that they can inform and enlighten us about candidates and contests don’t know jack. CNN and MSNBC need to clean house and start all over.
6. Low-Information Voters Are Possibly A Majority…Or At Least A Plurality
There are a heck of a lot more of them than I ever believed. They have no idea what they have done to themselves and to the rest of us. If Trump goes forward with his campaign proposals, they will find out and it won’t be pretty. I don’t want to hear another word about the importance of a well-informed electorate. No way will we ever realize that pie-in-the-sky aspiration. Our school system has sidelined civics and history education for years and now we are suffering for it. The MAGA crowd should be careful what it asked for. They are about to get it good and hard. Unfortunately, so will the rest of us.
7. American Democracy Isn’t Even on Life Support
Americans were challenged to save something they don’t understand. For MAGA, Churchill’s famous quotation, “…democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried….” ends after the first seven words.
8. Realignment is Real
The nihilism, authoritarianism and dismissal of democracy that Trump unleashed is here to stay. The people have spoken. The Cult dominates. The Democratic Party is a shambles. The future is very bleak indeed.
9. Anger, Hate and Fear Are More Powerful Motivators Than Their Opposites
So much for the fine words, elevated thoughts and pear-shaped tones about hope and love and all that jazz. They cannot compete.
10. So Much for the Democrats’ Great Ground Game
VP Harris was deluded into believing yet another thing that did not work for Hillary Clinton eight years ago. Namely, that her impressive ground game was going to be the difference. Trump once again put paid to that delusion. He farmed out his meager ground game to Elon Musk and Charlie Kirk. Conclusion: you don’t need a ground game.
11.Misogyny and Racism Exist…
…and appear to be deeply ingrained in the American electorate. I listened to several interviews with women voters who said that a woman had no business in the White House. As an astute friend said: “A South Asian Black Woman candidate was the perfect storm.” Regretfully. Democrats may need to consider this unfortunate fact in 2028.
12. Whatever Happened to Reproductive Rights?
Where were all the supposedly highly motivated women hiding? Did they not get the memo Dems pushed so hard? Even dying mothers and ten-year old rape victims were not enough to shock a nation accustomed to a daily dose of shocks from Trump and his acolytes.
13. It’s ALWAYS the Economy, Stupid
Even a super-smart guy like James Carville fell for the delusion that we are past this eternal verity that he himself coined more than 30 years ago. The economy trumped everything else just like it always does. Moreover, presidents (and by association, vice presidents) get blamed when pocketbooks are stretched, no matter what the cause, and in Biden’s case, he was not the cause. The inflation was worldwide. The U.S. did better in this respect than any other country. No matter. Once that sinks in, the incumbent party has no chance. It is going to be fired. Kamala could not outrun high prices for basic goods. Unless the nation is immersed in a war for its very survival, Other issues don’t matter. I got snookered on this one. Carville aside, I should have known better.
Time to hunker down and figure out how to protect ourselves, our families, the nation and the world from the pending storm.
Dick Hermann
November 9, 2024
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