Random thoughts and reactions to Tuesday's election earthquake
By Gary Abernathy
Pondering what happened in this week’s election
Random thoughts and reactions to Donald Trump’s victory and other things…
**********
When will Democrats learn to tell Hollywood stars and other far-left entertainers “thanks but no thanks” when it comes to their endorsements and rally appearances?
***********
As I noted in my pre-election newsletter, Donald Trump’s victory might be the event that saves journalism. However, far-left (formerly mainstream) media outlets won’t learn their lesson overnight. Here’s the New York Times’ homepage after the race was called for Trump.
See that? “Stunning Return to Power After Dark and Defiant Campaign.” Dark and defiant? Had Kamala Harris won, one can only imagine the glowing prose with which her victory would be headlined. The contempt in which Big Journalism holds the majority of Americans never ceases to amaze. And they wonder why their approval ratings continue to plummet.
**********
Fox News was the first to call the whole ballgame for Trump. It was mystifying switching to other channels and networks, nearly all of which conceded that there was no realistic path for Harris to come back to win, but still refusing to call the race for Trump until early in the morning when they couldn’t deny reality any longer.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the 2016 election was flipping channels to watch Trump’s media haters have on-air meltdowns about his surprise victory. This year, there seemed to be fewer actual tears, which is good. But the level of disbelief and confusion about how and why Trump won was still amazing, and revealing of how out of touch so many journalists are with the public they cover.
**********
On many networks, including Fox News, commentators suggested that President Biden probably regretted not deciding much earlier to forego re-election so Democrats could have had a proper primary process to choose a nominee.
My guess is that Biden is not regretting that at all. It is more likely that Biden’s only regret is that he eventually succumbed to pressure to step aside. He is undoubtedly convinced that he would have defeated Trump on Tuesday had he stayed in the race.
**********
It was a pleasant surprise when Issue 1 — the Ohio ballot issue that would have created a “citizen board” to take over legislative map drawing — went down to a resounding defeat. It was a ploy to elect more Democrats, but as I previously noted, it was being sold as empowering citizens over politicians, usually a winning message.
But voters said no to unelected and unaccountable map drawers. Drawing legislative districts is the job of our elected officials, and if those maps favor the party that has won the seats necessary to be in charge of the maps, so be it. It’s part of the spoils of victory, and in Ohio, Democrats were thrilled with the current system back when they were in power.
**********
Unlike previous elections, Trump clearly had coattails this year, especially in U.S. Senate races. In Ohio, Bernie Moreno has Trump’s strong showing to thank for his win over incumbent Democrat Sherrod Brown.
After winning Ohio in 2016 and 2020 by about 8 points each time, Trump was projected to win Ohio this year by as few as 6 points. Instead, he won by about 12 points.
And what was up with that pre-election Iowa poll that showed Harris winning by 3? Trump ended up taking Iowa by about 13. It truly makes you wonder.
**********
Already there are Democrats and far-left media types openly plotting the “resistance.” Just sad.
**********
The Harris campaign strategy was clear — take as few specific positions on issues as possible and focus on painting Trump as a racist, a fascist, a Nazi, someone who is mentally impaired, and a danger to democracy. While Trump was constantly accused, as usual, of running a campaign based on fear, it was Harris who more consistently did exactly that.
It didn’t work. A lot of voters might agree that Trump is often rude and crude, but they watched him as president for four years, and they’ve seen him now on the public stage for decades. They know he doesn’t fit the most extreme stereotypes Democrats try to attach to him.
And no one bought Harris’ campaign conversions on issue after issue as she abandoned long-held beliefs, and yet claimed that she hadn’t changed her “values.”
**********
One of the left’s talking points now is how the Supreme Court has empowered Trump with its ruling on the breadth of presidential immunity. But that decision covered all presidents, not just Trump. It covers Biden now. It would have applied to Harris had she won. It will apply to any future president. The notion that the Supreme Court somehow made Trump uniquely immune is simply dishonest.
**********
It will be important that Trump wins the national popular vote, as it appears that he will. It takes away a line of attack that his enemies constantly used against him during his first term.
**********
It was good to know that using “abortion rights” as a top issue did not work on a national level. Believing that women rising up in unified anger about abortion being endangered would be all it took to win was a faulty tactic from the start. When presented alone, codifying abortion rights is often successful. But on a macro level, many other issues are more important to most Americans than abortion. The economy, the cost of living, border security, crime and safety — these are the issues Trump highlighted, which proved successful.
**********
As Trump himself acknowledged in his remarks in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, J.D. Vance got off to a rocky start as the vice presidential nominee. But Vance’s performance in his debate with Tim Walz was outstanding, and his campaign appearances from that point were mostly stellar. He ended up being an asset to the ticket, as enough Americans became comfortable with the idea of Vance stepping into the Oval Office if necessary.
By contrast, Walz turned out to be a total flake — and, as Walz tried to tag Trump and Vance, just “weird.”
**********
Liz Cheney. Adam Kinzinger. The partisan and scripted January 6th Committee. All for naught.
Will the media continue to treat Cheney as some sort of principled patriot, rather than a vengeful egotist?
**********
I wondered a few days ago in this newsletter whether Trump had learned any lessons from his first presidency. The main improvement he could make is to avoid being pulled down to the level of his enemies. Ignore the haters and focus on your goals.
It’s doubtful he can do it, but we can hope so. Trump laid out an economic and social agenda that won him a second chance. If he sticks to it, he can name his successor (likely Vance) and imprint the GOP — and the nation — with his MAGA agenda for decades to come.
But so far, that hasn’t been Trump’s practice. Instead, he responds to every slight and allows himself to be drawn into petty squabbles with the Democrats and their media allies. Time will tell — soon.
Tough time understanding Trump’s re-election? Read ‘MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal,’ in print & eBook
My book, “MAGA Republicans Are Already Normal — And Other Shocking Notions,” might help you make sense of this week’s election results. It’s available on Amazon. Buy it here.
The book (actually much thicker than the illustrations above indicate — the hardcover and paperback are each 453 pages) is a compilation of many of the columns I wrote for The Washington Post from 2017 to 2023, and covers a variety of topics, particularly focusing on Trump’s rise to political prominence and explaining his appeal.
Here’s a link to our website dedicated to the book. Thank you!
Sign up or share this newsletter
Please sign up to receive this newsletter directly into your inbox or, if you are already a subscriber and reading this by email, share with a friend using the convenient button below. Thank you.