“I don’t like Trump’s manner, but I voted for him.” – Many Americans
There was already precedent for it – Grover Cleveland did it in 1892. But on Nov. 5, 2024, Donald J. Trump repeated it – in an unprecedented and overwhelming way – winning a second, non-consecutive term as the 47th President of the United States. Moreover, his victory secured (to date) 295 (270 to win) electoral votes and a majority of the popular vote – 71.9 million (51%) – and for a Republican, that’s a 20-year first.
It’s also a mandate from the American people – to take care of America and Americans first.
While the election results are merely the statistics, they reflect much more – what millions of Americans are feeling. America is reeling from the effects of incompetent and not infrequently, petty leadership. Hence, frustration and genuine concern stemming from costly economic and political policies of the Biden-Harris White House led millions of Americans to utter and then act on the words above.
This critical moment in our history, when America’s strategic leadership is questioned abroad, requires a response grounded in reality – based on experience – not promises based on hope. The American electorate saw that reality in Donald J. Trump – the promises, on the other hand, was the Biden-Harris agenda.
As I watched the vote tallies on election night my college years came to mind. In college (where logical thought processes occur infrequently), I cared about every idealistic notion current at the time, but I had an “excuse” – it was the era of the 60s-70s, and besides – I was in college.
It wasn’t that I was imbued with altruism; I just defaulted to the mantra and narrative of the time – anti-establishment thinking. I would probably have voted for Ralph Nader and the Green Party if they had been on the ballot when I was first able to vote.
Yes, it was shortsighted, but as I already told you, I had an “excuse.” Today, things are rather different from 60 years ago. America’s foreign policy failures and questionable domestic initiatives demand more from us – all of us – today. There is too much at stake for the “close your mind and hope it works” idealism of modern liberalism to hold sway.
Americans are perceptive people when they need to be. And three issues mattered to them in this election: their own hard-earned money, less entanglements overseas and immigration/border concerns. Donald J. Trump demonstrated – in his previous administration and during the campaign – that he possessed the skill, but more importantly the will, to tackle all three, and the American people sensed that in him.
Their hard-earned money
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’ economic plans were almost frightening. They were based on socialist ideas (ala Bernie Sanders) like government subsidies for housing, including down payments. Is it just me or didn’t we try something like that back in 2008 – remember how that turned out? Banks (including US banks) around the world received about a trillion dollars from the US Treasury to bail them out.
Under Biden-Harris, inflation surged to a four-decade high of more than 9 percent just two years ago. Grocery lists got shorter because food prices get higher, while rents and mortgage rates continue to climb. Many American families (which the Biden-Harris White House promised to help) are still struggling to pay for just the necessities of daily life.
Think about it – Kamala Harris was drinking beer on late night television with Stephen Colbert while Americans were dealing with economic difficulties she helped fashion.
Trump commented during the campaign about his plans to impose tariffs on imports from China and other countries. It’s ostensibly an effort by the former president to help American business by leveling the playing field.
As a free market advocate, I hope his advisors talk him out of that bad idea. But even if they don’t, Americans came to the conclusion that they are still much better off in a growth-oriented Trump economy, than the lackluster Biden-Harris disaster many subsist under today. Under Trump, deregulation will again be the law of the land – with an energy sector fostering more jobs and a GDP that generates tax revenue without raising taxes.
Overseas entanglements
The Biden-Harris White House pursued a US foreign policy agenda based on ‘containment’ of its perceived enemies. It is a dated foreign policy theory employed at the time of the Cold War. Times change – America’s foreign policy should have too.
So, let’s see. Syria remains in the hands of Bashar al-Asad. After 20 years, 2,400+ US soldiers killed, 23,000+ wounded, $2 trillion cost and a humiliating withdrawal – the Taliban still run Afghanistan. And then there is the US-led Ukraine proxy war with its $100+ billion in aid and vaunted crushing sanctions on Russia. The latter have neither destabilized Moscow’s economy nor isolated it politically. The IMF forecasts the Kremlin economy to grow more than 3.2 percent this year, faster than all advanced economies, and the BRICS alliance expanded, adding 13 new members.
Politics is about power, and the American people perceived Trump as a stronger leader than Harris. In business the former president has a reputation for making deals – putting situations together and making it work. That talent from America is what the world needs right now. The burgeoning influence from the growing alliances between Russia, China, North Korea and Iran must be addressed, and no other country, institution or individual is better equipped to accomplish this than America through the persona of Donald J. Trump.
Border/immigration concerns
Americans voted overwhelmingly for Trump for one more reason, and the underlying issue was actually created over fours by Joe Biden with the enthusiastic support of Kamala Harris. The country’s immigration policy and border security became unmanageable and ultimately out of control. Both have now become issues of national security.
Under Biden-Harris, Trump-era policies were overturned. A total of 7.2 million migrants entered the United States, as of January 2024. And of that number over 1.7 million entered illegally – evading an understaffed US Border Patrol.
Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution says the President “shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” The above figures don’t seem to bear out adherence to that obligation from Joe Biden.
And lest we forget, Biden put Harris in charge of this debacle called the southern border of America, which she claimed – was secure.
In a second term, Trump will secure the border and adjust immigration policies towards sanity; the former president will protect America and its citizens. It is something the American people have a right to expect from their elected officials (it’s in the Constitution).
The Biden-Harris White House spent four years implementing policies that had no hope of improving the lives of Americans. How does my son say it? “They failed!” Gallup released a poll this month revealing that 52 percent of Americans believe their lives are in worse shape than four years ago. Only 39 percent said they are better off – and that figure represents the Democrats’s hard-core base.
In 2024, Americans continue to suffer from unfulfilled obligations promised in 2020. Hence, millions of voters were drawn to Trump, because the former president reflects a reality of America First and American Strength. To these Americans − a majority of the 74.2 million who voted for him in 2020 − Trump is not a politician but he is a survivor of two assassination attempts and a symbol of the American dream.
Certainly, some Americans do not see Trump that way, and that’s OK. I can appreciate the views of those who do and do not. What’s more, it’s important that all those views are seen, heard and especially tallied.
Here’s the thing I can’t get past. It seems incredibly damaging and insulting to both America and Americans when the current president referred to those of us who voted for Trump – whether we like him or not – as “garbage.“
Harris’s comment was, “stop pointing fingers at each other,” but no rebuttal of the remark was forthcoming from her.
For a political party and its candidate that cloak themselves in the mantle of advancing the well-being of Americans, the Democratic Party’s base of modern liberals seems (through their rhetoric and petty chicanery) to be more interested in holding on to power than empowering the American people.
That is why on November 5th over 70 million Americans voted for someone – they may not even like – for President of the United States. But, you see, the difference between the two candidates and their parties is that Donald J. Trump doesn’t consider the other 70 million Americans who voted against him – as just refuse – as “garbage.”
Donald J. Trump is “American to the core.”
It seems to this writer, the American people made a good decision – this is precisely the individual America should want, and frankly needs, today, as President of the United States.
