Election Reflections Gerry OShea
On a
post-election day when I lived in Dublin, I recall meeting a local man who was
very involved with one of the political parties in the previous day’s contest.
I asked him for his views on the election. I still recall clearly his answer:
“The election was fine but the f----ing voters turned on us, despite all we did
for them.”
This
response will resonate with many Democrats as they reflect on the recent
presidential election. After all, the health of the American economy is deemed
by experts to be so strong that it claimed a cover-page headline in the
prestigious Economist magazine, stating in bold letters that the United States
economy is the envy of the world.
They
compared the employment statistics, wage increases, and growth of GDP with
those of all the other major countries and found the United States ahead in
these measurements. Add the good news of major gains in the stock market, which
usually portend election success for the incumbent party.
It is no wonder that most Democrats, led by
the usually cautious James Carville, basking in big and enthusiastic crowds at Harris
rallies, believed that she would triumph on November 5th.
Pollsters continued to the end, accurately calling
it a toss-up contest. In particular, they revealed that high inflation topped
the voters’ concerns, recalling Mr. Carville’s stress on the pivotal importance
of economic factors in deciding the winners in every election. Actually, in the
last 18 months the inflation rate had sunk from over 6% to around 2% but the
skyrocketing supermarket prices dominated family conversations. Motorists saw
the price of gas slide from close to $4 a gallon in 2023 to just over $3 by election
day.
Prices for the food basics, butter, sugar,
bread and other mainstays for the family table all increased considerably
during President Biden’s time in the White House. The voters blamed the
governing team in Washington with Kamala Harris as second-in-command, and that
was a big factor in her defeat.
Surely, the Democrats, who seemed to have no
reply to the daily accusations that they were responsible for the damaging high
inflation, should have highlighted the major economic achievements since Joe
Biden took over from Trump in the White House in January 2021.
They should have repeatedly explained the prevalence
of corporate price gouging as well as the international causes of the
inflationary crisis. Some voters would laugh off these explanations as weak excuses,
but many others would hear this credible case about the sources of the
inflationary pressures, and higher prices would become part of the normal
political discussion instead of an issue that Republicans regularly played up as
their main talking point.
Joe Biden had
a fine presidency, and his successes were rewarded in the mid-terms in 2022. Historians
praise his mature leadership in dealing with NATO and the strong positions he
upheld in condemning the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Chinese threats to
take over Taiwan. At home, he is deservedly lauded for his major bi-partisan infrastructure
and environmental programs as well as his open commitment to workers’ rights
and a fairer tax system.
However, his
inept response to the bombing of women and children by Israeli forces was - and
is – completely inadequate and seriously deflating for his presidential image. Netanyahu disrespected American leadership and
made the president look weak and ineffective.
The nightly strafing of civilians in Gaza,
which is still happening with American bombs, resulting in the deaths of over
44,000 people so far, seriously damages America’s international credibility and
certainly contributed to the Democratic losses in the recent elections.
1.9 million
registered Democrats who voted in 2020 for Joe Biden sat out this election
mostly because of this issue, which created a damaging lacuna in the Democratic
base. President Biden’s real achievements in important foreign and domestic
areas have been negatived and eclipsed by effectively giving his benediction to
Israel’s disreputable bombing of civilians.
The Republican
political arguments were driven by grievances. Speeches were laced with angry
declarations and threats. They wanted revenge for imagined slights, especially
by the Justice Department. By comparison, Kamala Harris and Tim Walz mostly
avoided personal attacks and preached about traditional values in outlining
their plans for the future.
One might
expect that Christian leaders would show their moral convictions, especially as
the demonization of immigrants is a central concern in both Testaments and was
a core issue in the campaign. One candidate worried publicly that barbaric
Haitians were eating pets in the communities where they live, and he set out
plans to lock up millions of these intruders in multiple detention centers. Amazingly,
he won most of the Christian vote.
Only Pope Francis expressed his disgust that immigrants
would be treated so abysmally in an avowedly Christian country.
Senator
Bernie Sanders from Vermont, an 83-year-old socialist, claims that the working
class has abandoned the Democratic Party because it is not dealing with the
core issue of low and inadequate salaries and benefits. Wages have barely remained
steady in the last 50 years while corporate profits have surged. The elites
have taken good care of themselves, but the shop floor employees have fallen
behind.
There is no
indication that the Republican Party will re-arrange the distribution of
profits to benefit the workers struggling in the middle or bottom echelons of
the company. In fact, the new president will likely delight the business owners
and top bosses again with more tax cuts for the affluent and super-rich.
The
impressive Assemblyman Pat Ryan, elected easily in a swing district
encompassing parts of Duchess, Orange, and Ulster counties, highlighted the
same message as Senator Sanders about the need to listen to ordinary workers’
concerns. In his area, the 18th District, he heard from thousands of
workers, most of whom were barely paying the bills from week to week, and they
did not look to Democrats for relief.
The transfer
of power is taking place in an orderly fashion, with Kamala Harris calling Mr. Trump
to congratulate him and President Biden welcoming him to the White House. This
adherence to protocol is appropriate, but it applies only to one side. Trump
and his Republican cronies told us in advance that they would not accept a
Harris/Walz victory, just as they did in denying the Biden/Harris win in 2020.
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