Can I just go to sleep for these next 4 years?
96) Donald Trump is now like Grover Cleveland. And Kamala Harris is vanquished
Grover Cleveland was the last President to win a term in office only to lose his bid for re-election, and then come back for another term. That is until Donald Trump! I know little else of President Cleveland. (Eventually I will do a better job of researching and sharing about him).
While here at Josh off the Press, the election of Donald Trump is a major disappointment, there is also relief that we can put this election behind us and just go back to…who the heck knows?!
There is plenty of blame to go around for this election. I’m not even sure where to begin. And while I don’t want to cast the word blame, rather I’d offer a list of reasons the Democratic Party has shown itself to be a rather weak party when it comes to strategic thinking or long-term planning.
Before I do that, I will share a few (somewhat) related reasons as to why Harris lost, that have less to do with her actual performance and everything to do with certain factors that really soured the American public.
#1 - Inflation really is a drag.
I’m not going to share any links, but all indicators showed that the American people are incredibly sensitive to this, and have historically felt this way. When people can no longer afford to buy homes, and people feel the pinch at the gas pump and the grocery store, the party in power is clearly in trouble!
And Believe me! As a middle-aged man knowing a lot of people trying to buy a home, I know! How we went from 1% mortgage rates for years and years and years to 9% and maybe now 7% (still incredibly high) all under Biden’s watch. To have this big of a swing in mortgage rates all in just under four years, is a total death-knell!
#2 - Sexism and Racism
Some might say this should be #1. Others might dismiss racism as a claim, since Trump drew more Black and Latino men than any Republican did in decades.
#3 - Immigration!
Blaming this conservative congressional majority for not moving on the strongest immigration legislation in a generation, was never a winning talking point. The fact that the Harris campaign moved her position so much closer to Trump’s on this, is indicative of the fact that this was always a losing issue for the Democrats.
#4 - Cynicism combined with Trump’s unmistakable charm?
Politicians are typically viewed as self-interested liars. Trump for whatever reason is just viewed as more authentic about how much of a liar he is. Again, from my prior post, there is just too much money in politics too. At some point people accumulate so much power and wealth, they just no longer seem relatable. Trump somehow still comes across as relatable
If there is one thing I feel personally disappointed about in my conversations with people that were very strong Trump supporters, is that I was never confident enough nor knowledgeable enough to fully articulate how all these trickle-down tax breaks that Republican Presidents are notorious for being able to pass, actually hurts the long-term economy.
Yet, even this is not personally my fault. It’s hard to explain to you every-day people that tax breaks for every income group, actually might be a major factor in making inflation go up.
But, this point also speaks to not only Democratic Party ineptness, but also Democratic Party complicitness. It’s actually quite depressing to think of how corrupt the whole system actually is.
Whatever this form of capitalism is that seems pretty on brand with the Republican Party (and low-key fine with the Democrats), it is clearly alive and well. Plenty of people have thrived in it. And clearly enough of the American people truly believe in it (or they have no belief in anything). Otherwise our system wouldn’t look the way it looks.
Honestly, it’s hard to be a citizen activist. Feeling a certain obligation and/or desire to educate the public on why good government is needed and how it could actually work well to positively impact American lives.
While my activism has been more or less in the form of the written word in recent years, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up a certain topic that is fraught with tremendous stress, tension and very strong feelings on all sides.
The war in Gaza probably played more of a role in numerous ways that the mainstream American Media doesn’t want to talk about. FYI - Just look at the results in Michigan.
Heck, I’m at times uncomfortable talking about it. I find it embarrassing that such a genocide is happening in Israel. And I have family and friends that get this newsletter who are Jewish, who might or might not accuse me of being a self-hater for speaking out about this. But, it’s a problem that can’t be ignored.
It’s a terrible irony that a number of Jewish Americans have been Pro-Trump because he’s so staunchly Pro-Gaza invasion, while a lot of Muslim voters and other Americans to the left of the Democratic Party withheld support for Harris because she has been part of the Biden Administration which has not only been allowing the massacre in Gaza to continue, but have been actively funding it.
For the record; I want a cease-fire now! And I want a Two-State Solution, ASAP!
But, I’m just incredibly troubled by how easy it is to silence people that just want peace, by labeling them as anti-Semitic. I’m of course not blind to anti-Semitism, but the weaponization of that term is further poisoning our public discourse around any type of reasonable solution.
In losing this Election, one silver lining I see for the Democratic Party is the fact that they will now be forced to do a much-needed autopsy on the state of their party.
This is something they clearly were ineffective at in the aftermath of
The 2010 midterm bloodbath,
The 2014 election where they lost the Senate and any chance of helping re-shape the Supreme Court
&
The 2016 Presidential Election, where they themselves helped bring about Donald Trump, in the first place!
There’s a lot of palpable anger and disappointment. And despite the upcoming dunking on liberals heads from the right, the anger is justified. I’m truly hopeful cooler heads can still emerge out of all of this.
And honestly, if cooler heads don’t prevail… I don’t even want to speculate. But certain *ish is really going to go down that will certainly reshape the “Left” in this country. Hopefully the “Right’s” use of power will not just be a bludgeon, but also a scaffold to help all American people.
The speculation about what’s next has already begun. And this is even before every single vote has been counted. I’m obviously a bit wary of a Trump #47 Administration, but it is still in America’s best interests to hold him accountable for his past grievances, and prevent any future ones. All the while, seeing how he can fulfill the promise of helping all people.
-JPJ
This story, below - was posted the day before the election.
Thank you Josh. You are so on target.