aefenglommung (aefenglommung) wrote,
aefenglommung
aefenglommung

The most fascinating question of this election

Four years ago, a lot of people who cast their ballots for Donald Trump were basically voting against Hillary Clinton. Better a crazy man than the Queen of Darkness, they thought. Well, now it's four years later. All races featuring an incumbent president are in some measure a referendum on that president, and I know a lot of people who were definitely voting against Donald Trump this year. The Democrats could have nominated Bonzo (close enough, in reality) and they still would have voted for him, just to express their disgust and outrage at Trump.

Well, the votes are still being counted, and there may be all kinds of other subsequent legal maneuverings to come (shudder), but some questions just have to be asked.

"Who are those guys?" -- Butch Cassidy

We are not seeing a revulsion against Donald Trump across the board. Far from it. Trump has gained votes relative to his last outing from every race and gender except white men. The candidate of "white supremacy" has greatly increased his following among black and brown people. and the turnout has been yuge (to borrow a Trumpism).

This doesn't mean that all these people were voting against Joe Biden. Biden's vote totals are surpassing Hillary's in State after State. He's experiencing a blue wave. It's just that there's a red wave, too. One heckuva lot of people are voting for Donald Trump. They know all his flaws (who could miss them?), and they're still lining up to vote for him, despite those flaws.

Who are those guys? They shatter the narrative that we've been hearing for four years from the voices which dominate our public discourse. They're not confused, not manipulated, not afraid. They know what they want. But what is that, exactly? Who are those guys?

I'm afraid that the Democrats will react to these people by just moving further to the left, unable to believe what the voters are telling them. So, will the GOP figure out who these voters are and start to address their hopes and concerns? Is there a positive legacy for Trump to leave to the party, whether he leaves office now, or four years from now? Time will tell. But "who are those guys?" is the most fascinating question of this election.
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