We just had a presidential election. The result, Biden won. It was a decisive win, both regarding the popular vote and the electoral college, even with some states still not decided.
But, 70 million people voted for Trump, only 4 million less than voted for Biden. 70 million Americans voted for a man who is a narcissistic bully. Who, because of his inability to think beyond himself, allowed the coronavirus to devastate our country and kill more than 200,000 people, which has in turn ruined the financial well-being of millions and weakened the economy. A man who has no morals, no ethics.
What does this election result say about our country? There is good news and bad news.
First the good news. This country is peopled for the most part with good people, across the board. People who, like everyone, have their own problems and their own perspective on things, but who have some understanding of right and wrong. People who are often silent; who mind their own business. Thankfully, the majority is not so wounded that they are open to the pandering illusions and lies of a demagogue.
Against this backdrop, a higher percentage of Americans voted in this election than in the past 120 years. Millions of people who normally don't vote cast a vote, understanding what was at stake. They knew that this election was not about whether a Republican or Democrat lives in the White House. It was not about whether Republicans or Democrats control the Senate. This election was about saving this country from the grip of a madman, saving the country's soul as well as its health and financial well-being.
The normally-silent majority has spoken, and as Kamala Harris said in her victory speech, they have saved us. Tuesday, after the election was called for Biden, when I drove downtown in this small village in the Massachusetts Berkshires, there was an older woman standing on a corner holding a sign high which simply said, "Free." Well put. I feel like alternating between MLK's famous, "Free at last. Thank God Almighty we are free at last." and the song from the Wizard of Oz, "Ding, dong, the witch is dead. "
Biden will have many challenges facing him. But I have faith that he will develop effective policies and through the force of his decency, personality, and history will be able to elicit cooperation from enough Republicans that he will be able to govern with bipartisan support. Hard to imagine after the past 12 years.
But now for the bad news. 70 million Americans voted for Trump. Given his mishandling of the pandemic, the economy, and his personality, that's a lot more than one would have expected.
Trump's base is usually stated as a third of the electorate, so around 50 million voters. Half of that base is made up of evangelical Christians. We know from APVoteCast, that about 25 million evangelical Christians (8 in 10 evangelical voters) continued to support him. Why? Because he had changed the makeup of the Federal judicial bench and the Supreme Court to an extent that they never in their wildest dreams felt was possible. The culture wars were of singular importance to them. His failures as a person, his lack of morals, his treatment of women were not even of secondary concern.
The other 25 million of his base are people who have been so wounded that they were ripe for his pandering to their hurt and their fears, and the force of his charisma. They cheered the gusto with which he stuck his finger in the eyes of the intellectual elite and the Democratic Party, who they view as responsible for their suffering. Like all followers of demagogues, they see no truth other than his truth. His enemy is their enemy.
Why is this? Trump is in style if not in fact a dictator demagogue. And such leaders have historically received huge support, even in the face of disaster. This occurs because in each case, the demagogue speaks out against something that greatly harmed the people.
In this instance, the fervor of Trump's support mirrors the depths of despair and betrayal middle-class whites felt and feel towards the Democratic Party. And towards the Establishment and government in general. We, the Democratic Party, have failed our own people. Despite warnings, we were not attuned to it. I think Biden is very aware of this.
But what about the other 20 million people who voted for Trump? From accounts I've read, many of these were people, traditional Republicans, who had only one concern . . . the economy and their financial well-being. And they felt, as Republicans always do, that a Republican will handle the economy better than a Democrat. No matter who this Republican was. No matter that scores of traditional Republican political leaders, military men, and public servants said that for the good of the country Trump must be defeated.
If you look at Trump's support, these were all single-issue groups whose only concern was their own well-being. Evangelical Christians were only concerned that they win the culture wars: that abortion would be prohibited and the LGBT community be deprived of any rights. The white working-class just felt aggrieved and supported someone who spoke for them. And financial conservatives just don't trust Democrats with the economy.
The job facing the Biden administration is huge. Not only does he have to free us from the pandemic and restore the economic health of millions . . . and that's just to get us back to baseline. He has to deal with the issues of income inequality, racial injustice, climate change, and the list goes on.
But he also has to restore the faith of most Americans in the American social contract. Simply stated, that we are all Americans, that we as citizens have rights but also have responsibilities to our fellow citizens, and that because so many lack opportunity because of the circumstances they are born into and have little control over, government has a role in leveling the playing field to insure that all Americans have the opportunity to fully engage in '"the pursuit of happiness."
And he has to give meaning to our oath that we are "one nation, under God." Has anyone thought what that implies? This is not about going to church. The main implications center, I believe, on how we treat our fellow man.
This was the aspiration the founders stated in the Declaration of Independence, "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." It means that we treat people humanely, with respect. It means that everyone deserves an equal opportunity to make a life for themselves; what they make of that opportunity is then their responsibility. And it is government that is tasked to "secure those rights," securing equal opportunity, as stated again in the Declaration of Independence.
Whether we as a nation pull together over the next four years, or whether we continue the internecine fights of the Trump years, will determine our future. We will either thrive or we will destroy ourselves.
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