I always say a vote of 50% plus 1 equals political success. You don’t need more than that. I like politicians who are willing to use up their political capital to do hard, but needed, things, even if it means they don’t enjoy 80% approval ratings. All they need is 50% plus 1 for political success.
Still, when an election winner barely squeaks by with just over half the vote, it’s worth considering why the other nearly half of voters didn’t vote for you. I hope Joe Biden, if he wins the presidency, takes that into account. He needs to understand why all those working-class, middle-America voters supported Pres. Trump. It’s quite remarkable that nearly half of America wanted Trump, despite his flaws, quirks, a raging pandemic and a collapsed economy.
Biden will be under tremendous pressure from the left wing of his party to ignore or belittle the Trump constituency. That would be a mistake that might result in big Democratic losses in 2022.
I honestly don’t know if the country is ready for some normalcy after four years of Trump. We’ll have to wait and assess the mood of Trump’s base. I don’t know if anyone other than Trump himself can win over the Trump base. He awakens something visceral in people that has seldom been replicated in politics. Love him or hate him, any smart person has to admit that Trump has some political magic. And if leftists call Trump supporters freaks or cultists, they’re insulting nearly half of America.
So it will be interesting to see if Biden reaches out to the Trump supporters in more than superficial ways. And it will be interesting to see if Trump supporters are willing to accept any sincere Biden entreaties.
News Media Watch. The love affair between Trump and Fox News is badly fraying. The Trump campaign issued a press release blasting Fox News for calling Arizona for Biden fairly early Tuesday night. The Trump campaign is accusing Arnon Mishkin, director of Fox’s election decision desk, of being a Biden supporter who donates regularly to Democrats.
“Why would Mishkin put his finger on the scale for Joe Biden before so many votes are counted?” the press release said. “Mishkin is a registered Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016, worked as a Democrat political consultant, and has a long record of donating to Democrats, including the 2008 Obama-Biden campaign.”
Parting Shot. It is fascinating that Trump may have saved numerous Republican seats, but may not be able to save himself. A number of analysts are saying that Republicans turned out in enormous numbers to vote for Trump, and along the way they helped Republicans maintain control of the Senate, pick up seats in the House, and retain majorities in many state legislatures.
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