This is not the article I planned to write for this month’s first blog post. “Expressing Congratulations (and Sincere Sympathy) to Pres. Harris” was the title of the post I anticipated making. But the sad news I read upon arising early Wednesday clearly indicated that I would have to write a different article.
 |
| VP Harris making concession speech (11/6) |
Kamala Harris campaigned well, but both the popular and the electoral votes were decisive. Nevertheless, I congratulate her for her valiant efforts, determination, and forward-looking spirit. In her concession speech on Wednesday afternoon, she said,
... while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign—the fight: the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness, and the dignity of all people. A fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at our best. That is a fight I will never give up.
Of course, no politician likes to lose, but for VP Harris herself, losing may have been good for her. Because of current and lurking problems in the U.S. and the world, she could have well ended up with a failed presidency. (For some of the same reasons, the same may happen to Trump).
If Harris had won, she would have had to contend with debilitating Senate opposition and continual opposition by the NAR (which I wrote about here a month ago) and other MAGA adherents, including the growing number of White Christian nationalists.
In addition, Kamala would have had to—and now Trump will have to—deal
with the warfare in the Near East, which will likely grow worse before it gets much
better. We don’t know how she would have handled that incendiary situation, but
she would likely have faced considerable criticism no matter what she did.
Perhaps more serious than anything else is the worsening of climate
change and the urgency of dealing with the ecological predicament. This crucial
matter will quite surely get markedly worse in the new Trump administration,
but Harris would not have been able to forestall the coming crisis.
Consider why Trump “should” have won the election. In
addition to the large block of White Christians voting for Trump and the
residual racism and sexism still lingering in the land (as I wrote about in
last Saturday’s “extra” blog post (see here)**,
consider the following:
* The unpopularity of President Biden. According to a highly
reliable poll taken on Nov. 1-2, Biden’s approval rating was 40% and 56%
disapproving. It is rare for the Party in power to win a presidential election
with the sitting president’s rating 16% more negative than positive.
* The perception that the
country is on the wrong track. As indicated
here, 63% of the U.S. public think the country is headed in the wrong
direction (on the wrong track), and only 26% that it is headed in the right
direction. That makes it very hard for the incumbent Party to win a
presidential election.
* Continuing high prices because of inflation and corporate greed.
This 11/6 Washington Post piece
doesn’t deal with corporate greed as I think it should, but it does suggest
that the widely held perception that the economy is “not good” or “poor”
impelled many to cast their vote for Trump.
* The unaddressed problem of classism.
This issue is addressed well by a 11/6 New York Times opinion article by the
eminent journalist David Brooks (see here). Another source
indicates that while voters with graduate degrees vote Democratic overwhelmingly,
this year more than ever before, those with no college education voted
overwhelmingly for Trump.
Where do we go from here? On Wednesday, the editorial board of the New York
Times wrote, “Benjamin Franklin famously admonished
the American people that the nation was ‘a republic, if you can keep it’.” They
go on to say,
Mr. Trump’s election poses a grave threat to that republic, but he will not determine the long-term fate of American democracy. That outcome remains in the hands of the American people. It is the work of the next four years.”
So, I conclude by again congratulating
VP Harris for her valiant campaign and expressing sympathy to her for losing
the election to a far less worthy candidate. And I trust that she will, indeed,
continue to lead in the struggle for implementing “the ideals at the heart of our nation.”
_____
** In that post, I wrote, “If VP Harris loses the election, … it will be
because of the votes of White Christians more than any other chosen demographic
(that is, other than non-chosen demographics such as gender, race, or ‘class.’)”
Thursday morning there was this post on Religious News Service’s website: “White
Christians made Donald Trump president — again.”
.jpg)
The first comments regarding today's blog post came in over an hour ago. They were from local Thinking Friend David Nelson, who wrote,
ReplyDelete"Thanks for sharing your wisdom. It is clear, honest, and feels on target. It will take me a while to integrate the reality that Trump and his cult are not just an aberration in our country, but a tragic reflection of America. Resistance to his administration seems futile but necessary. I refuse to abandon my beliefs in compassion, community, and cooperation."
Thanks for your comments, David. I don't think resistance to the upcoming administration is futile, but I do think it is necessary, as you said, as well as difficult. to do in an effective way. I hope more and more of us can implement your "beliefs in compassion, community, and cooperation."
DeleteJust a few minutes latter, Thinking Friend Vern Barnet, a good friend of both David N. and me, wrote the following "in grief":
ReplyDelete"Thanks for your perspective of how a Harris administration could have faced so many difficulties that her Presidency would have been a failure.
"Please allow one comment about the perception that the country is on the wrong track. In my opinion, the two major causes of this perception are Biden's failure to effectively tout what his administration has been doing and Trump's success in gaslighting what has actually been an extraordinarily successful economic performance, especially compared with other nations. Still, if I had been asked if the nation were on the right track, it would have been hard for me to say Yes because of the widespread toleration of cruelty and lawlessness applauded by so many people."
Thanks for writing, Vern. I agree with the perceptive comments in your second paragraph. For whatever reason, the Biden administration has, indeed, failed to get the public to understand sufficiently all the good that has been done since January 2021, and Trump's gaslighting is certainly extensive.
DeleteI think your concluding sentence is also noteworthy. I wanted to mention that in the blog article, but ended not doing so lest it be too long (by my standards). There is considerable dissatisfaction by people on the left as well as on the right. I think the country was certainly moving toward being in the right direction under Pres. Biden, but it is still a long way from being there for the reason you suggested and several others.
Sue Wright, another local Thinking Friend, comments,
ReplyDelete"To feel hope, I remind myself we are on the right side and the smart side of our citizenry. There are wonderful caring people—lawyers—even judges—and certainly millions of us who have the energy to stay alert and ready—to find ways to protect our nation from dissolving into a monarchy. It won’t be easy, but it will produce amazing strategies for good from us, of course, sadly along with the certain tragedy looming for those most at risk in our nation. Certainly, we weep for what could have been."
Thanks for your positive, forward-looking comments, Sue. There are plenty of reasons for us to feel sad at this time, but there is no reason for despair. There are, indeed, many people who are going to suffer under the coming administration, and we feel sad, and will weep, for them. But that should encourage all of us "on the right side and the smart side" to increase our efforts to spread love ("agape") and total welfare ("shalom") throughout our land.
DeleteThinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago was the next to respond, and here is what he wrote:
ReplyDelete"Thanks, Leroy, for your hopeful observations in a moment of despair for many of us.
"One reason we were misled into believing that Harris had a chance of winning was because of record turnout by early voters. Democrats usually fare better when turnout is large, and so I thought with a record turnout by early voters, the edge was with the Democrats, but the actual turnout, including the vote on Tuesday, was considerably below the turnout in 2020, which worked to the advantage of the Republicans.
"Biden is deeply unpopular with the electorate, primarily because of inflation, an inevitable result of Covid and geopolitical events outside the control of any president, but Biden has been blamed for it. The pre-Covid prices are never coming back, and if Trump's economic agenda is implemented, inflation will be worse, not better. But voters have short memories and a poor understanding of economics.
"The other factor is the "strong man myth"; namely that a strong leader can miraculously solve complex problems. I strongly suspect that Trump will make our problems worse, not better.
"At least Harris was classy enough to concede the election without claiming election fraud, unlike Trump. And Biden has committed his administration to a peaceful transfer of power. What a contrast!"
I agree with your comments, Eric, but I will comment here only on your last paragraph.
DeleteCertainly, there could not be a starker contrast between the Biden/Harris response to the election loss and the Trump/MAGA response in 2020/21. Surely, that difference is going to be noted to a sizeable segment of the population, except perhaps for those who are too severely enmeshed in the MAGA movement that just can't see things reasonably anymore.
Then Southern Baptist missionary Steven Kunkle in Japan, where he wrote after 10 p.m., comments,
ReplyDelete"We prayed, we did our part, and we leave it to the Lord. A reminder is Habakkuk 3:17-19 about God’s sovereignty and the problem of evil in the gospel. But even when evil seems to win, evil already lost because in Christ, we won."
Thanks for your comments, Steve. It is interesting you mentioned Habakkuk 3:17-19, for that was the basis of a Gospel song that June and I enjoyed so much long ago signing with missionary friends in Japan--and haven't heard sung live for decades now. Here is the link to it on YouTube, which we were happy to hear again this morning:
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTSbA_4W548
Here are brief comments from Jan Buerge, another local Thinking Friend:
ReplyDelete"Thank you, Leroy, for your thoughtful responses to this disappointing outcome. I find it the hardest to have conversations with my non-Christian friends on how so-called Christians support him."
Next, I received the following extensive comments from another respected woman who is a Thinking Friend who is not local.
ReplyDelete"Thanks for this. Although I understand where you are coming from and this was exactly what I said when Hilary Clinton lost in 2016 to Trump, I am afraid that this time the stakes are way more consequential and deleterious. Even if Harris could not make any headway with legislation, as you argue here, or not make any headway in other matters because of severe opposition, the government itself would still have been maintained and would be functioning, law and order would have preserved, and we would still have emerged after four years with things intact. Biden faced enormous pressure and opposition but was still able to use the levers of government to bring us to this point, so it is not inconsequential to have a person who wants to work for the people in power even if they face enormous pressure. His work has made us the envy of the world both economically and in the leadership he provided around the world.
"Now with Trump we face something we have never experienced before. He wants to destroy the functions of government and put them to his own use. He will compromise the rule of law to his own ends. He will pardon people who have been rightfully convicted of insurrection and he will pardon himself so that he will never be held accountable for his crimes. It is not inconsequential to have a felon in the White House.
"He will now be able to do that because he now knows what he needs to destroy, and he will install people that will do his will. Already the person who has been slated to become Attorney General is talking about indictments for Trumps enemies, including Biden, Cheney, Pelosi and maybe even Harris. They are planning mass deportation and putting children in jail. Private prison companies and rubbing their hands in glee because those people will need to be housed somewhere before they are deported.
"There is very little we can do to stop that. And then there is foreign affairs. Trump will try to force Ukraine to surrender and give it to Putin. If Harris was in power that would not happen. What Trump will do in Gaza we do not yet know, but given his ability to be bribed and flattered he will probably not side with the Palestinian people.
"Trump's presidency has enormous consequences, and it is possible that in two years when people really begin to feel the effects of massive cuts in Social security, and Medicare, the higher prices claimed by massive tariffs that they will vote differently in that election, but by then it may be too late. What is to stop Trump from deciding to run for another four years? Or refusing to leave office? If he has filled the DOJ, Homeland Security and the military with people who are loyal to him, who will stop him?
"I therefore cannot agree this time that Harris losing was good for her or for the United States. It is a horrible outcome, and it may be so serious that we will never be able to recover from it."
It is unusual to receive responses from four female Thinking Friends on the morning I posted a blog article, but a few minutes ago, Linda Schroeder, another local Thinking Friend, sent this brief email message:
ReplyDelete"Well said, Leroy. Thank you."