Calling all statesmen and stateswomen, too

Well, folks, the election of 2024 has come to a close. In nearly an electoral college mirror victory to the one he won in 2016, President Donald Trump (45 and 47) becomes the second president in American history to serve non-consecutive terms. See my article on President Grover Cleveland (22 and 24) for more details on history.

The only difference from 2016: Hillary carried Nevada in 2016. Trump carried it in 2024. The result here in 2024: A couple of states (Maine and Nebraska) split their electoral votes by U.S. House districts. There may be a few "faithless electors" who cast their votes for those other than the major candidates. For now, it's Donald Trump 312, Kamala Harris 226: A landslide in the electoral college by anyone's standards.

The Associated Press and FOX News both called the election in the wee hours of the morning of November 6. But I called it on Cloud Nine Higher much earlier than that before I fell asleep for the evening. This was based on my political "sense of smell" and not on any political scientific surveys. I turned out to be right.

So what went right for Donald Trump and what went wrong for Kamala Harris? The roots of the Harris defeat went back two years, when President Joe Biden should have announced his retirement and allowed prospective successors from his own party to compete in a primary for the Democratic nomination.

Following a curiously-scheduled and disastrous debate for President Biden, deep concerns among Democrats led to his July decision to bow out and to endorse Kamala Harris. Few folks will remember Harris' brief and disastrous candidacy for the 2020 Presidential nomination. Given a brief time to gather her wits and to be ready to campaign for President, Harris perhaps did as best she knew how.

Not enough. From my review of numerous polls on my Google feed, about 75% of Americans believed that the country is headed in the wrong direction. Bad news for the party in power.

I don't know about all of the Vice President's interview gaffes, but the one that I read about from The View on ABC from September was hard to overcome: When asked what Biden decision she would decide differently on, Harris answered something to the effect of "I can't think of one".

Not good. Trump focused on his "Make America Great Again" constituency and pulled out a second presidential term. Americans are much more focused on the economy, jobs, and immigration than Trump's threat to democracy and abortion. The issues of society and her personal magnetism did not work for Kamala Harris.

But here we go, folks. Trump, a Republican Senate, and probably a Republican House of Representatives, too. Think that President-elect Trump is a dictator? Think again. This won't happen.

Think President-elect Trump will take away Social Security and Medicare? Think again. Per the Associated Press, he's stated that this won't happen. Even if he wanted it to happen, it almost certainly would not given the requirement of approval by Congress.

So let the great debate begin. In politics, things are never as good as they seem. Things are never as bad as they seem, either. If you're a Trump Republican, enjoy your moment. You deserve it. But don't think that other moments are not ahead of you.

James A. Rose - Publisher