Media outlets worldwide are suggesting this election was a repudiation of wokeness, a rebuke of socialism, a disavowal of Donald! While some of that may be true, I feel it’s a combination of many things. In the end, I see it as a rejection of extremism.
Joe Biden is on track to receive more than 75 million votes—nearly 20 percent higher than Barack Obama's previous record in 2008. Clinton won 20 states in 2016. Obama won 24 states in 2012. Biden may end up winning 25 states. That means half of the country wanted a new president as much as they tried to keep the old one. Trump had the second-highest popular vote total for any presidential candidate—second only to Biden.
Joe Biden presided over a campaign with the fewest new ideas we've ever seen in a presidential candidate. It was one of the least energetic as well. His positive outlook for the country was the notion we should listen to "the science" and wear a mask. We saw little enthusiasm for the man. Biden ran as the milquetoast, inoffensive, generic Democrat. What people saw in him was that he just wasn't Donald Trump. That proved to be enough to generate those 75 million votes.
The people who voted for Biden understood he wasn’t a product of the radical left. After all, Democrats did select a centrist candidate in Joe Biden. This election was closer than many thought because the extremes of each party forced people to vote against the other party, not necessary for it.
The most progressive wing of the Democrats turned off many voters, particularly Latinos in Florida. Miami-Dade County in Florida is home to many first-generation immigrants from Cuba and Venezuela who have lived the practical realities of socialism. Latinos were turned off by the extremists in the Democratic party and their constant talk of Marxist ideologies.
While Nanci Pelosi thinks progressives won with a mandate, her colleagues may not agree. Some feel they should have won races they expected to win. Representative Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, spoke for many of her colleagues with her profane tirade against extreme proposals for defunding the police and crazy talk of socialism.
“Don’t say socialism ever again,” she said. “If we run this race again we will get f*****g torn apart again in 2022.” Pelosi disagreed by insisting: “We have a mandate!” It sure doesn’t seem to feel like a mandate to the congressional Democrats who lost.
"Wokeness" helped brand the Democratic Party in a negative light. The Democrats spent seven months dealing with the discourse dominated by the protests around George Floyd. The flood of virtue signaling from almost every major corporation, the cries of systematic racism, and the defund-and-abolish-the-police movement was of little interest to the median voter. The Democrats appealed to fewer working-class voters of all races and moderate voters in general over time. Far-left progressives also turned off millions with their language-policing and characterizing the U.S.A. as a White-supremacist society.
Democratic dominance was expected in the election, but they fell short of their goals and actually lost ground. Democrats had dreams of expanding their already firm hold over the House of Representatives and set out to take seats in historically safe Republican congressional districts. That failed. No blue wave appeared.
For the first time since Grover Cleveland in 1884, it appears, a Democratic candidate has won the presidency but not the Senate. Democrats lost a state legislature in New Hampshire and a governorship in Montana. It was a stunning result knowing Trump's historically low approval rating and the havoc caused by the pandemic this year.
Why is this the reality for the left? Maybe it's because progressives have a blind spot regarding the concerns and sensibilities of working-class Americans of all backgrounds. Their focus on culture wars in the past opened a vacuum for a populist with no experience in governing, no respect for the office's dignity, and no regard for the norms of liberal democracy. A large and often ignored segment of the population felt that as long as Trump communicated in a way that felt authentic and, more importantly, "owned the libs," he was worthy of their vote.
Most of the working class don't get what the Democrats are going to do for them. Their issues are primarily around material things about their community. They are concerned about healthcare, the economy, their jobs, and the effect the pandemic has on their lives. The next four years will be a test. Either the Democrats will become the party of intersectional identity politics again or hold the mantle for classical liberalism and the founding values.
Trump and some of his allies think they won the election. The president can point to his improvement on his 2016 performance as proof. His campaign was, once again, competitive in states and counties that have been long written off as hopeless by GOP strategists. After four years of being denounced as a white supremacist, Trump turned in the best showing among nonwhite voters of any Republican nominee since the candidacy of Richard Nixon of 1960.
96-percent of Latino counties in Texas cast their ballot for Trump. He also increased his share of the black and gay vote in Los Angeles County. He did this during a horrifying epidemic and after a nasty economic downturn. Imagine what Trumpism might accomplish under the leadership of someone who is less impulsive, had message discipline and was actually intelligent and articulate.
Biden and the Democrats cannot ignore that more than 70 million Americans voted for a second term of Donald Trump. Trump appeared to care about working people's economic concerns, even though he couldn't care less. Now that Trump is gone, what does the republican party stand for?
The Republican Party once stood for lowering debt and fiscal responsibility. The GOP used to embrace the military-industrial complex. A party needs to fight for something. Candidates need to have real beliefs. Trump's wishy-washy positions were unmotivating, and their party was entangled in Trump's toxic cult of personality. Personality cults are not long-term political strategies. Democrats discovered this with Obama.
Before Trump lost Tuesday's election, only three others were first-term presidents in the past 44 years: Ford, Carter, and George H.W. Bush. The past two losing presidents also had to contend with serious third-party challengers, and all of them had to fend off serious primary challenges first. This left them weakened with their bases and presiding over divided members of their caucus. Trump had no primary, nor a credible third-party candidate. He was in total control of his party—and still lost.
The initial count of same-day ballots, minus the mostly Democratic mail-in vote, created the illusion of an election that was too close to call. Many had the idea that Trump's mean brand of nativism hadn't repulsed a clear majority of Americans. It repelled enough in the right cities to kick him out of office. What remains to be seen is whether Tuesday's results will trigger some much-needed soul-searching and introspection for the GOP. What role should Trump and his policies play within the national Republican Party moving forward?
The American system of government and elections—built with wannabe dictators in mind—has done its job. One threat to that system has been appropriately dealt with. Trump will be leaving and a new party will be in control of the executive branch. Extremists may be loud and may temporarily take control, but the system of checks and balances seems to keep the pendulum closer to the center.
Update:
In my recent post, The Election Is The Vaccine, I wrote:
Will COVID-19 suddenly disappear? No.
What is likely to occur with a Biden victory? The first order of business will be a change in messaging from all big-city mayors, teachers' unions, and their respective governors. They will begin with the suggestion of re-opening schools with all students returning. We are starting to see the seeds planted with pieces in the Atlantic Magazine and the New York Times. Schools aren't superspreaders, so what are you worried about? The new messaging will be about how things really aren't as bad as we thought after all.
It's been happening over the past few days:
In Boston: “Concerned that too many students are attempting to learn from home, Governor Charlie Baker on Friday made his biggest push yet for schools to re-open classrooms — even in communities like Boston where coronavirus cases have been surging — issuing a new set of rules that strongly discourages remote learning.”
In Berkeley: “Berkeley middle and high schools have the option to re-open Monday if they have a plan and follow guidance to limit the spread of COVID-19, city officials said Thursday. Berkeley's health officer is giving the OK because of lower case rates along with healthy choices, according to city officials.”
Democratic governors will quietly rescind their draconian lockdown mandates over the first few months of 2021.
In New York: Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that New York is rolling out changes to its quarantine and testing guidelines for travelers coming to New York from out-of-state. “Travelers must be tested within three days of leaving for New York, and they must test negative. "There will be no quarantine list, there will be no metrics -- one rule that applies across the country," Cuomo said. But he says the rules do not apply to New York's contiguous states -- New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.”
…Legislators will finally realize the reality of vaccine creation. Their rush to push a progressive agenda will take precedent over everything else. Putting life on hold until there is a vaccine will be an afterthought. Knowing the dispensation of a vaccine is many months away, they will say, “We will learn to live with COVID-19.”
Perfect timing! News of a vaccine just emerged this morning: How Pfizer vaccine could help lift economy out of COVID-19 pandemic rut. “The possibility that Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine candidate qualifies as a breakthrough is generating optimism that the economy could rebound swiftly in 2021 and beyond. While Pfizer's vaccine still has multiple hurdles to surmount before it receives regulatory approval, hopes are rising for the airline industry, hotels, restaurants and retailers.”
While this isn't the USA, you will see several states adopt this language: “Until a vaccine arrives, the world has to find a way to live with Covid-19 and without lockdowns. One approach gaining currency is testing entire populations with new tests that deliver near-instant results. Slovakia just used such rapid diagnostic tests on 3.6 million people — two-thirds of its population — in two days.”
Democratic governors who have been waiting on superman to help their states fiscally will have a come-to-Jesus moment. Their sudden, intuitive perception of the reality of the need for society to fully function will mean their coming clean and admitting their failures. Realizing the true weight and impact of extensive lockdowns and the dismal state their cities are in will be an aha moment—a realization that revenue is essential. A stimulus package may be passed to help in the short term, but they will know the truth. They will insist on all businesses re-opening—like Florida.
Andrew Cuomo is dying to get federal funds but is sniping at his downstate comrade: Cuomo blamed de Blasio for the state's down-ballot difficulties in New York, arguing that the mayor's job performance served as ammunition for the other side of the aisle in races on Long Island and upstate New York that went to Republicans. "The Democrats: there'll be havoc like in New York City," Cuomo said in an interview on WAMC Radio in Albany. "They ran de Blasio's picture all over the state. They'll turn New York state into New York City, looting and crime and homelessness, law and order."
If Joe Biden wins the presidency, the mood of liberals will lighten as soon as the inauguration ceremony is complete on January 20, 2021. Their four-year-long national nightmare will be over.
As we can see, social distancing be dammed! They sure are happy—and are "mostly masked."
As each week passes, we will see more magical things happen. I wonder why so many people are in Times Square nowadays? Over the weekend, that part of town looked like it did when I worked there.
Remember concerts and Broadway shows? Oh wait, it looks like THAT might even be a reality sooner than later. It’s amazing how timely this announcement was:
Coronavirus Study in Germany Offers Hope for Concertgoers - Nov 3. 2020
Findings from a test event with 1,200 attendees suggest that indoor concerts have a “low” impact on infection rates, providing they are well ventilated and follow hygiene protocols.
Even with all of these rules and regulations, I still would rather wait to see people actually enjoying themselves, sitting with their friends and family, smiling after being thoroughly entertained by the show they saw me in. I’m sure President Biden will figure it all out by February. He will have the federal guidance everyone thinks we need to end this disease. Who knows, it might be over by April of 2021. Then, Biden can take credit. We will finally rebuke the virus!
Clayton Craddock is an independent thinker, father of two beautiful children in New York City. He is the drummer of the hit broadway musical Ain’t Too Proud. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Howard University’s School of Business and is a 28 year veteran of the fast-paced New York City music scene. He has played drums in several hit broadway and off-broadway musicals, including “Tick, tick…BOOM!, Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical, and Lady Day At Emerson’s Bar and Grill. Also, Clayton has worked on: Footloose, Motown, The Color Purple, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Spongebob Squarepants The Musical, Evita, Cats, and Avenue Q.