Like millions of others hoping for some sense of normalcy, and a return to a society where people respect the opinions and beliefs of others and respect the rule of law and institutions, the result of the 2024 presidential election was a kick to the solar plexus and a two-by-four to the head. For the last eight years we have lived in a world that allows for a leader who consistently flaunts the law and conventions of government, while seriously putting into question facts and science. All media is labeled as “Fake News” and is the enemy of the state. Of course, only one network was forced to pay 800 million dollars because they outright lied about the 2020 election. The Biden administration has been an oasis of relative competence and effectiveness in the middle of a perpetual clown-show.

Our former President, soon to be President once again, has been legally proven to create false charities to enrich himself and cheapens himself, and all of us by association, by hawking a series of ridiculous products like golden sneakers, bibles made in China sporting American flags, and NFTs with his image hilariously portrayed as a super hero. His followers lap them up at record rates. I use the word “followers” purposely instead of supporters because it is clearly cult-like behavior.

The former President was found legally responsible for sexual assault and ordered to pay the victim millions when he defamed her. He instigated a slow-moving coup after the 2020 election that resulted in an attack on the US Capitol. The peaceful democratic transfer of power, a process that has met all challenges for 250 years, was attacked. Despite more than sixty court challenges to the 2020 election, all of which failed, his followers still believe that the election was fraudulent. His fellow Republican officials have known all along that this is not true, but have not had the political or personal fortitude to stand up to him, and for democracy.

Scores of former White House officials have spoken out and written about his performance during the first administration and labeled his actions and behaviors as dangerous. They clearly labeled him as being unsuited for the office. These were respected and competent conservative professionals who thought they were supporting a conservative agenda and assisting in its implementation, only to realize that they were put in a position to serve as a buffer to unstable ideas and behavior.

Having said all of that, he still won. He convinced nearly 74 million Americans to vote for him. And interestingly, there seems to be no complaints about election fraud this time around. His claims of a mandate have been refuted this past week as more vote counts are completed. It was actually a much closer race than previously thought. That fact makes the result actually tougher to swallow. So, how in the world did he win?

The first, and possibly most crucial error in judgement on the part of the Democrats, was the failure to acknowledge that President Biden had aged significantly during the first three years of his tenure. When elected, his job was to defeat Donald Trump and bring normalcy and reason back to the political process. He succeeded in doing that despite the Trump circus continuing to circle. He actually accomplished a great deal passing key legislation that set America up for a more safe and productive future despite the Republicans nipping at his heels like Biden’s dog Commander all through the process.

He should have been counseled and convinced to be a one-term bridge president as he had indicated during the 2020 campaign. Nancy Pelosi and others waited too long to step in and convince him that forgoing a second term was in the best interest of the party and the country. His mental faculties had clearly deteriorated which is more than understandable for an eighty-year-old man working long hours in a pressure packed job for three years.
At this point, there needs to be a serious reckoning on the part of the Democrats. How could this election be lost to a candidate with his record of despicable, illegal and un-American activity. Where does the Democratic party stand at this point and how can we get back to a reasonable and sane agenda that Americans can support? The answer is at the CENTER.

Moderation in all things. It is a time-honored and wise adage that is not followed by many. I have to include myself as being guilty of too often ignoring this sage advice. America seems to have not only chosen to ignore the concept but is hell-bent on blowing it up. The one thing that progressive Democrats need to understand is that Donald Trump is seen by his followers as the messiah. He is the chosen one who will ride into Washington and level the place. His followers see Washington, its institutions, and most of those who operate them, as responsible for the destruction of America. They seek to burn the place down and rebuild.

In some cases, his followers are very clear in their vision. The primary example of that are Chistian evangelicals. To be completely fair, there are evangelical Christians who do not support Trump and his agenda. The evangelicals that are fervent Trump supporters have no elusion that Trump adheres to Christian values or even cares about God. They are willing to accept his thinly-veiled act and American-flag bibles to achieve their end which is a Christian nation. Their goals are political not merely religious. They want the Christian church to be the church of America and its laws and institutions to be filtered through Christian doctrine.

One of the main issues during this election was immigration and the border. There is no arguing that the border situation has created a scenario that is untenable for the United States. Our present laws regarding asylum can no longer meet the challenges of a rapidly deteriorating Mexico, and Central America. These regions have always been somewhat unstable, but in recent years people living in these regions have seen a dramatic unraveling of both the political and economic climate. Migrants are fleeing unstable governments that are no longer able to stem of the tide of cartels, crime and violence. The economies of these countries cannot provide their citizens with the means to support themselves. They look to America as their literal salvation.

The Trump machine has cleverly latched on to this worsening situation and skillfully used it to their advantage. The Biden administration mistakenly moved too far in its efforts to reverse Trump policies in 2020 which opened the flood gates at the border causing chaos and opportunities for Republicans. They waited much too long to admit that there was a problem and to take action restricting access at the border. The proposed bi-partisan border bill came too late in the game and many voters paid little attention as Trumped essentially killed the bill. They allowed the Trump campaign to exaggerate the effects of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants in record numbers.

Republican and independent voters were fed misinformation regarding immigrants being provided unlimited benefits and creating violent crimes. Democrats did a poor job of communicating the facts to voters. The facts were that illegal aliens were not eligible for benefits such as Medicaid, SNAP or Social Security. Most of the assistance that was being given to illegal aliens awaiting asylum hearings is being provided by charitable organizations and local and state governments mostly in blue states. Data from the National Institute for Justice actually shows a much smaller percentage of illegal immigrants committing crimes, both property and violent crimes, than both US born citizens and legal immigrants. Were Democrats negligent in communicating these facts or was that a function of our media siloes. Both are likely the case.

Despite the misinformation and hysteria, Democrats need to recognize and communicate to Americans that the flood of immigrants that continue to cross the border, whether seeking asylum or not, is a problem begging for a solution. The solution should be as humane as possible and hopefully enjoy the cooperation of governments south of the border, but the result must be in the best interest of US even if hard choices are necessary.

Another huge issue during this election was the economy. The focal point was inflation, but the issue touches on numerous aspects of economics in this country including jobs and wages. Democrats wasted an opportunity to tout a much-improved and healthy economy created by many Biden administration policies and legislation. They neglected to first recognize that families were still struggling with high prices at the grocery store and finding affordable housing. They failed to concentrate on why people still had concerns in these areas and what they could do to make their lives easier.

When Biden took office in 2020 inflation was sitting at approximately 9.2 percent. This was mainly a function of two related phenomena. The first was a massive influx of funds into the economy due to the Recovery Act. Without these funds many more families and businesses would have suffered and our economy would have been near collapse. Many could and have argued that unnecessary Covid restrictions created that need. I am not one of them. That is an issue for another exploration. The fact is that the funds were needed and provided spending power to many Americans. The problem arose with a lack of goods on which to spend the funds. Supply chain issues leading to a lack of product increased prices unreasonably. It is basic supply and demand economics. High inflation also led to high interest rates leading to a stagnant and highly competitive housing market.

Although the inflation rate fell dramatically to approximately 2.5 this summer, and interest rates were lowered slightly, prices for some consumer goods remained higher than normal especially food. The answer to this was fairly simple to identify and communicate. Record corporate profits over that period indicate price-gouging. Both the large food conglomerates and the biggest grocery chains were, and still are, guilty of keeping prices artificially high and raking in record profits.

The Harris campaign did indicate that she would go after price gouging but the message was not clear enough nor frequent enough. And again, it needed to begin with the recognition that people were struggling. That was lacking.

The Democrats severely misjudged the role of race and ethnicity in this election. The democrats were the party of civil rights in the 1960’s. They were also the party of the Great Society and the War on Poverty. They need to recognize that there has been a great deal of progress over the last sixty years. There is a growing and sizeable Black and Hispanic middle class and these groups can no longer be seen and treated like a monolithic group. Many of these citizens care about the same issues that white voters care about like immigration and the economy. They cannot be ignored and counted on to support candidates blindly simply because the candidates are Republicans. Black and Hispanic voters supported Harris in significant numbers, but Trump cut into that margin in a significant way.

There has been an interesting juxtaposition with regard to how the parties are seen by voters. The Republicans, and specifically Trump, are now seen as the party of the working class. Trump is seen as the savior of the worker. He will bring manufacturing back to America. Nothing could be further from the truth. His fixation on tariffs, which, in fact, actually raise prices for Americans and provide struggles for American business, are lauded as the panacea for the economy. His supporters, like most Americans, have no knowledge concerning tariffs. They simply see this boast as Trump going after the evil foreigners and making them bend the knee to America.

The reality is that the Biden administration has created more jobs than any administration in recent history. They did that primarily by investing in the crumbling infrastructure in this country and also investing in green energy which has and will provide millions of new jobs. The “chip” bill will provide for the development of several new facilities producing vital microchips which will reduce our reliance on Taiwan which now produces over 90% of the microchips we use.

Although union membership is actually dwindling in the country, union members are still a significant voting block. Unions have traditionally been Democratic supporters. Republicans have cut into that support. This is particularly interesting given that Trump has never even pretended that he supports unions and their members. His recent love affair with Elon Musk and Vavek Rammaswamy clearly indicates that he is not a supporter of unions or their agenda. Musk and Rammaswamy have both been responsible for attacks on unions and workers and have been handed the task of eliminating jobs.

There is an obvious and severe wage gap in America that has widened rapidly in the last thirty or so years. In 1990 there were sixty-six billionaires in the US. In 2023 that number had grown to 748 and still growing. The average CEO earns 351 times what the average worker earns. CEO compensation increased 1,322% since 1978. The average hourly wages for workers in the US have increased marginally since 1980 from 17% for the lowest wage workers to 46% for high wage workers. It’s the old yarn – the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. It is remarkable that everyday workers cannot, and will not, recognize that a vote for Trump, and his bevy of billionaires, is in direct conflict with their interests.

The vastly growing wage gap has been driven by Republicans since the 1960’s. It is a return to the age of the industrial revolution and the emergence of the Robber Barons like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie. The process has been led by people like the Koch brothers and organizations like the Heritage Foundation and others. It is a purposeful and carefully orchestrated effort to allow the wealthy to hoard as much money as possible and leave the poor and disadvantaged to their own devices. It is a pull yourself up by your own bootstraps agenda. Their aim is to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and eradicate public education. (For a more detailed examination of this effort, I would recommend reading, Democracy in Chains by Nancy MacClean)

Given all of these anomalies concerning the issues and voters, it is clear that Republican voters and many independent voters, are voting against their own interests. There are some clear reasons why some voters are willing to follow the Trump circus to town. Most of the 748 plus billionaires understand the game. The Trump tax cuts have enriched them further. The thought that the money would trickle down to those of us waiting with our beaks open is a myth. The billionaires used most of it to buy back stock options. They did not raise wages to provide workers with a greater advantage and chance at the American dream.

We also cannot pretend that many Trump supporters, not all, fear the browning of America and a multi-cultural society. They see the changing faces and languages as an affront to what they have, while they should be banding together with these fellow Americans to wage the war against those who are really making life more difficult for them – the billionaires who are taking more and more of their money and purposely keeping them in a struggle to meet their basic needs.

The essential question is why then are so many middle- and lower-income voters willing to vote against their own interests? All of this examination leads to the pivotal issue that had a very important impact on the outcome of this election and may have been the deciding factor in both of Trump’s wins. We are clearly in a culture war. And be careful before you complain or lament, you may be in an interesting position in this war.
There are several issues driving the culture war. Race is a major factor. After the killing of George Floyd, and the subsequent protests, a wedge was carefully driven between many white Americans and Black and Hispanic Americans. The Black Lives Matter movement spawned a backlash. Many white Americans did not understand the concept and refused to believe that Black citizens were still treated more harshly by police. The response was All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter. They did not understand that of course all lives matter, but the only ones that were universally protected were the white lives. Somehow the concept still seemed exclusionary and radical to many.

The movement was not helped by the violence that occurred in many cities and volatile rhetoric such as defund the police. The violence was unnecessary and egregious and the resulting scenarios around the country made the movement appear too radical. A section of Seattle was taken over and police were not allowed into the area. The same occurred in Portland and the area was essentially trashed. In places like San Fransisco looters and shoplifters were allowed to operate unchecked and their actions were labeled by some as reparations for past injustice. These were all too much for the average American to swallow.

The Me-Too movement was a necessary wake-up call for society. For too long women were treated like second-class citizens and struggled daily to live their lives both at work, and sometimes at home, without the constant fear of being sexually harassed or assaulted. Men were asked to become allies in the effort to create a safe world for women. Once the gate was opened to allow for an examination of the issue, it began to steamroll to a place where many men began to feel attacked and insecure around women. The concept of the toxic male was introduced and seem to mushroom to a point where many men, especially young men, began to see themselves as unwanted and evil. More and more young men isolated themselves. This was fortified during the pandemic. Many of these young men began to see Trump and his agenda as something they could get behind and many supported him in both elections.

Free speech is a hotbed issue for many. Progressives have as much, if not more of a role in this as conservatives. We are literally changing our language to meet the inexplicable needs of the uber-woke. It is laudable to be awakened to injustice and discrimination. That can and has gone too far for many. People living on the street are no longer homeless. They are now unhoused. Why the distinction? Does it change the suffering? Do the homeless really feel more respected and seen when they are referred to as unhoused?

If a person says the wrong word, whether by accident or on purpose, despite the context, they are immediately cancelled. Colleges and universities which were formally bastions of free thought, discussion and learning are now repositories of liberal thought. Conservative or controversial speakers are shouted down if they are even allowed on campus in the first place.

Let us not let conservatives off the hook. When age-appropriate books discuss sex, sexuality or slavery, must they be banned for everyone? Progressives seem to have moved too far in creating sensitivity as well. It may not be necessary for first, second and third graders to know too much about slavery and it may go too far to create an atmosphere where children at that age feel guilty about being white. They are likely unable to distinguish between what white Americans did to Black Americans historically in this country and the fact that they are white. By the same token, older students who are able to make that distinction should learn about the role of slavery and Jim Crow and the role of Black and Hispanic Americans in our history.

The most divisive of the culture issues has become sexuality and gender. This is obviously a very complex issue that involves both biology and social norms. Americans do not tend to handle complex issues well. These issues involve both science and religion. We are somewhat more understanding discussing the concepts of sexuality when it is somewhat simplified. People tend to understand and accept the idea of a person being gay. Understanding and acceptance do not go hand in hand. Although the country has made tremendous strides in achieving legal rights for gay people, their status is not accepted by many fundamentalist Christian groups and others, primarily in the Bible Belt. Promoting drag queen story hours for small children is alarming not only to those who oppose gay people but also those who are generally supportive but feel this action, which is seen as indoctrination, goes a step too far.

The issue has become much more complex since the conversation has begun to focus on transgendered individuals. The concept of being born in a body that does not represent your true gender is very hard for many to understand. Those who adhere to the bible literally tend to flat our reject the concept. The issue becomes much harder to accept and discuss when young children, who have expressed gender dysphoria, are being provided opportunities for gender reassignment therapy even before they have reached puberty and an age when they can better understand their feelings and have developed a fuller sense of self. Early gender reassignment has also been opposed by some in the transgender community. Lastly, the issue of athletes assigned as males at birth, and now identifying as females, competing in athletics against females has created a maelstrom of controversy with high school and college teams refusing to compete against teams with these players.

Recently information has surfaced concerning the television ads run by the Trump campaign that focused on Harris’s support for transgender people and her support for financing reassignment surgery for prisoners. Democratic leaders pleaded with the campaign to respond to the ads and are frustrated that no real response was offered. Data has indicated that the ads were very effective in swinging independent voters to Trump.

All of these culture issues have done more to divide the country and affect political support than any of the other traditional issues. They have provided ample opportunity for each side to vilify the other. The left is seen as crazy and out of touch with common sense while the right is seen as ignorant and insensitive. I believe, as do many others, that it is in this divide that Donald Trump won enough independent and centrist votes to win the Presidency despite all of his numerous and obvious shortcomings. Some voters will overlook all else because the Democratic party is being forced too far to the left by progressives and will not call out policies and ideas that just seem detached from common sense. Independent and right-leaning voters can argue, rightly or wrongly, that a vote for Donald Trump right now is their way of protecting their children and their communities. That is a very strong incentive to sway a vote.

Democrats better wake up and decide what ideas and policies they are willing to support and communicate. They need to settle on which ideas they need to divorce themselves from if they want to win elections moving forward. I am not suggesting that the party ignore its values and promote ideas that are not in the best interest of voters. I am suggesting that they look long and hard at whether some of the ideas that they have tacitly supported are ideas that should be supported. It is imperative that they do this to stem the obvious Republican agenda outlined in Project 2025.

If the Democrats stick to the major issues including the economy, wages and jobs and begin to communicate their positions to save and strengthen Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid while promoting common sense immigration policies and good effective education for everyone, they have a fighting chance to win future elections. If they continue to support fringe ideologies and take the elitist stances that they have taken in the last ten years, they will find themselves on the losing end of election after election and we will all be the worse for it. Wake up Democrats.