Thoughts on the election
Wow, what a night. And, as has become typical in recent years, we still don’t know about several Senate races or who will take control of the House.
But much as Trump dodged a real bullet on July 13 in Butler, PA, the US dodged a metaphorical bullet last night. And it was thanks to the hard work of Trump, Vance, their staffs – including many election lawyers who acted on reports of possible fraud and other problems in the days leading up to the election in a timely and effective fashion – and perhaps most of all, the American voter. In particular it was thanks to many erstwhile Democrat voters who decided that they couldn’t in all conscience vote for Harris and either sat home or voted for Trump this time, giving him a more solid victory than ever before.
Will the Democrats manage to find those extra votes to put them over the top in the states that are still undecided? About twenty years ago, Hugh Hewitt wrote a book entitled If It’s Not Close They Can’t Cheat. And although I assume that some of the as-yet-undecided places in which Trump is only slightly ahead now, or races in which another Republican is barely leading, will ultimately turn blue, I think this Trump victory is decisive enough that it will hold, and that there’s little question that the Senate will be controlled by the GOP.
More and more things are going to emerge about this election as time goes on and they crunch the numbers, but here are my thoughts so far:
(1) Polls were essentially worthless this year. But at least the pollsters didn’t speak with false confidence; they basically said “Hey, it’s 50/50 but what that means is that we haven’t a clue.” So I appreciate the honesty.
(2) Yes, there is a “shy Trump voter” phenomenon. I’m one of them. A lot of people say they’ve never been called by a pollster, but I’ve gotten many such calls and I always say, “I’m not interested” and hang up.
(3) Trump’s energy is astounding for any age, much less for a man of his age.
(4) I had almost forgotten about Melania. It was nice to see her up there on the dais – or the podium or whatever it’s called – looking beautiful and happy.
(5) Barron was by far the tallest person standing in front of that crowd late last night, and in general it’s a very tall bunch and so that’s saying something.
(6) J. D. Vance turned out to have been a tremendous asset, whereas Tim Walz was one of many poor decisions by Harris.
(7) Harris was rude to her supporters, choosing not to address them last night.
(8) The pundits on Fox looked giddy last night, the CNN folks looked very glum. And the CNN newspeople seem as clueless as ever; they were analyzing why Trump won and why Harris lost and several sadly and condescendingly said “racism and sexism.” Keep thinking that rather than pointing out her extraordinary weaknesses.
(9) Remember Michael Steele, who was head of the RNC from 2009-2011? I don’t generally watch TV news and hadn’t seen him or thought of him in ages, but last night I discovered that he’s found a home on MSNBC and is a NeverTrumper. He said some extraordinary things during the few minutes of the broadcast I watched. One was that, somehow, the Republicans had succeeded in tying Kamala Harris to the failed Biden administration. Ya think? And this was uttered as though making such a connection would require some sort of pretzel-like gymnastics to pull off.
(10) There was one guy on MSNBC – I didn’t catch his name – who pointed out some interesting things, while standing in front of maps. He looked at a number of blue states and blue districts that Harris won, and compared them to Clinton’s total share in 2016 and Biden’s total share in 2020. Harris consistently did worse than both of them. Also, the gap between Biden’s percentage of the vote and Harris’ percentage of the vote was often about a five percent dropoff.
(11) Jen Psaki has also found a cozy gig on MSNBC. I hadn’t missed her, either.
(12) Someone (again, I don’t recall who) on MSNBC mentioned that Harris lost ground with all demographics compared to Biden, except for white college-educated women. I guess Biden gets to say, “See, you should have let me run again,” although of course many other factors have changed compared to 2020, including Biden himself.
(13) I don’t know which thing I’m more relieved about – that Trump won or that Harris lost. Let’s call it 50/50.
(14) Trump will have his work cut out for him.
(15) We still don’t know who won the House, but the Senate results are heartening.
(16) I’m struck once again at how, when there’s a trend – in this case it was that Trump did better than most polls and pundits predicted – the phenomenon is often exhibited across the board. He did better almost everywhere.
I remain dumbfounded by the fact that if the Dems nominated an actual person with actual beliefs that this thing might have swung the other way. Harris is the worst major candidate of my lifetime. Hell, Fritz Mondale would have done better.
sharksauce:
Exactly. The results of this election should have been about 80 to 20. They were way too close, considering what an empty vessel Harris is. However, many voters will reflexively vote for the Democrat. And abortion was a factor, too, as well as rampant Trump-hatred.
But at least the pollsters didn’t speak with false confidence; they basically said “Hey, it’s 50/50 but what that means is that we haven’t a clue.”
This was, I think evidence of a different kind of dishonesty from what we are used to. Nate Silver pointed out that with such a large number of polls and such small sample sizes, not nearly as many of them should have come out to 50/50, sampling uncertainty at minimum should have produced many more where one candidate led (and averaging them would have given 50/50).
I hope that the people who do polls can take a break for a few years while they try to figure out what they need to do to.
This is what has traditionally been called a MANDATE.
It is the American electorate clearly saying: F*ck you, Leftist globalists.
Maybe not “nuanced,” but understandable.
No federally sanctioned baby murders of third trimester infants in the name of elective birth control, no more child grooming or mutilation. No more open borders and the resulting child and female sex trafficking, rapes, murders and drug addiction. No more printing money and the resulting out of control inflation. No more support of the bloodbath that is Ukraine.
If you had told me a year ago, that I’d be voting with the Amish, Arabs, Muslims and Somalis, as well as black men and Hispanics—and Joe Rogan and Danica Patrick and Elon Musk!
What a world!!! hmm?
Apparently Baron Trump is a towering 6’9 and supposedly at 18 years old may not have even reached his final height yet. Not sure if he plays basketball, but maybe he should at least consider it if he has even a modicum of athletic ability.
The stock market reaction is amazing. That’s gotta hurt the Dems, though they will probably say it’s just proof that Trump favors the wealthy. But a lot of middle class have retirement money in the market. And Harris wanted effectively a wealth tax. All those Nobel Prize economists that signed a letter saying Trump would be bad for the economy have egg on their faces, though Biden has left Trump with a stinking pile of garbage (appropriately now that Trump has donned the mantle of garbage man).
Raw Egg Nationalist:
https://x.com/Babygravy9/status/1854136162467696891
1min48sec video at link.
Could Trump get a shot at appointing another Three SC Justices?
He won’t have Mitch McConnell to push them thru…who is strong enough to get 1-3 SC candidates thru?
• Clarence Thomas 76 (2 years younger than me)
• Samuel A. Alito 74
• Sonia Maria Sotomayo 70 (looks like she could go at any time)
Any of them ready to retire – ‘Early‘?
This is an excellent explainer for those who don’t understand how Trump won – and sort of a liberal Western anti-woke manifesto. Long but worth it, and excerptable:
https://jeffgoldstein.substack.com/p/i-am-not-voting-for-donald-trump
I sorta hope that Clarence Thomas decides to retire before Trumps term is up so he can be safely replaced. Don’t Ruth Bader Ginsburg it.
Yep, Baron Trump should give BB a try. He need only jump about 6″ off the floor to dunk the ball.
But he would need to bulk up to be effective unless he can shoot from 3 point range with other-worldly accuracy; sort of like Caitlin Clark (of WNBA fame) or Steph Curry (of NBA fame).
Thank GOD Trump prevailed !!!
I had assumed that either Trump or the Cackler had a good chance to win.
The “map guy” on NBC (if it’s who I am thinking of) became something of a celebrity to the lefties when he (I guess) projected hope of a Biden victory in the hours before the “fortification” took place.
He parlayed that into a bunch of side gigs on NBC, one of which was trying to be a horse racing analyst on big televised races for the past 4 years, during which I don’t believe he picked a single winner (including this past Saturday during the Breeders’ Cup).
My spider sense is not tingling.
It was a big win for Trump. Could there be a peaceful transfer of power?
I hope, I hope, I hope.
No offense to Baron meant, but that kid gets eaten alive on a basketball court.
Do not count on Kamala to become pro-American. She has until January 21 to wreak harm on the deplorables who did not see her “majesty”.
Now… whether it’s your custom or not, let’s pray that POTUS Trump stays upright and healthy until the 2029 peaceful transfer of power.
Collin Rugg:
https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1854230895743439285
Trump needs to hit the ground running. Since he already a lame duck, he can’t waste a day. Name Vance acting AG so the senate can’t slow walk his AG to protect the DOJ trash. The lawyers and judges that engaged in lawfare against him AND the J6ers need to be offered an escape route from the consequences by undoing what they have done and if they don’t take it, then burn them to the ground.
The civil service laws need to be kicked to the curb as unconstitutional and then wholesale firings of the disloyal bastards commences. He should get the longest serving out first. They have had their share at the trough. Let the youngsters have turn.
Three obvious people need to be arrested about 1 minute after Trump takes the oath.
I was conned by the glitterati, the media, and the polls into underestimating the American voter. While the shrill voices echoed across the land, the average voter was going about life. But collectively they made their voices heard when it counted.
I apologize to them; and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
I should think that the margin of victory is large enough to discourage shenanigans by the pros. But I will be surprised if the street thugs don’t use this as an excuse for mischief.
Caught the video of Megyn Kelly’s talk at the Trump rally. Wow! I wonder if she has a slot in the administration–Communications Directors seems appropriate.
Finally, it is clear to me that Trump is a ‘force of nature’ unlike anything we are likely to see any time soon.
PS I would like to see Trump ‘retire’ after two or three years, once he has set the direction, and hand the baton to Vance. I have come to believe that Vance is the future.
On a state level, Mark Robinson’s gubernatorial campaign was soundly defeated, as I thought it would be, and along with him we lost the AG and Lt. Gov. offices. We also lost the NC House supermajority by one house seat. The newly-elected governor is against school choice in North Carolina. I hope the federal government will give us some help with this by restricting funding for any university or state which incorporates DEI into its instruction materials.
@sdferr:The DOJ cited their policy that presidents can’t be prosecuted
The DOJ reports to the President of the United States and cannot have any policy other than the one the sitting President sets. Where do these people get off pretending they answer to no one?
Article II Section I: The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. I don’t see ‘except for the Department of Justice which has its own’ in there.
Chases Eagles, et alia,
I think you’ll see one of the most prepared administrations to take over the White House this January. Trump is much wiser this time, but, regardless, he is surrounded by big name, type A people with bold plans. They will not let his first 2 years go fallow.
@Chases Eagles:Since he already a lame duck,
This term has hugely expanded in my lifetime. It was originally the part of a President’s term between the election and the inauguration of the next President; Joe Biden is as of today a “lame duck” under that definition. Somehow it got expanded to “any President in his second term”, which doesn’t really make sense, especially not for Trump.
including many election lawyers who acted on reports of possible fraud and other problems in the days leading up to the election in a timely and effective fashion
Putting in a good word here for Lara Trump, who took over an RNC that could charitably be described as “ineffective” under Ronna and turned it into a turnout machine and an aggressive legal watchdog on The Enfraudening.
Excellent piece by Jeff Goldstein linked by Ben David. Interesting because Goldstein was a conservative blogger who had issues with Trump and I don’t think he reconciled himself as quickly as say neo did. Or myself sorta though I voted for Trump all three times. The significance of and need for Trump has been sinking in on Americans for nearly a decade now and the election showed it overcoming the furious campaign against him. Which likely still hasn’t ended so beware.
Victory is sweet. Then comes facing the road not taken — accounting for the costs not to be cashiered. Finally.
Last night, Elon Musk features a clip in his Tucker Carlson interview — becoming a stem for Elon’s further accolades for President Trump. Via X.com:
Elon Musk
@elonmusk
·
Follow
Sure it was a lot of pressure, but it pales by comparison with President @realDonaldTrump, who they tried to kill twice, bankrupt and imprison for eternity
Autism Capital
@AutismCapital
TUCKER: “So how much pressure has there been on you to shut down X?”
ELON: “Well apart from multiple democrats saying they want to put me in jail, take away government contracts from my companies, nationalize my companies, deport me as an illegal, and have me arrested for…”
===================
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1854024475559248300?
It would be wonderful if an expert in de-programming severely indoctrinated people would wet up a website and free de-programming assistance. There are several million intelligent Americans who cannot de-program themselves
They need help in getting back to having a desire to search for the facts, understanding what the MSM has done to them these past years, and being able to accept how they have been conned. Many of these people are well educated–they are not stupid–just too vulnerable! We need a serious program helping them to make this recovery. One reasonable and well-informed step at a time! Don’t we have some of these well-trained individuals in our millitary? Maybe free 15 minutes after dinner time on Fox TV !