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Election Reflections

 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.

Their version of democracy still stands: We accept the democratic system when we win, but if we lose, we will again do everything possible to overturn the legitimate results. Heads we win; tails you lose! What is the definition of that kind of democracy

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