Wake-up Call

When I wrote “Allegiance to a Con Man,” about why so many Americans voted for Donald Trump in 2016, I did not expect what happened in 2020. After four years of incompetence, lies, insults, rule by tweets, racism, criminal — yes, criminal — undermining of our fight against Covid-19, and isolating us from the rest of the world, Trump still received 9 million more votes than he did in 2016!

Yes, he was soundly defeated by Joe Biden, who beat him by over 5 million votes. But at last count Trump had over 72 million votes, whereas in 2016 he received a bit over 63 million.

Why?

There is something seriously wrong in the body politic of the United States. And while we can justifiably celebrate the end of Trump’s presidency we’ll still by infected by Trumpism after he’s gone.

As I said in my “Con Man” piece, only a small portion of those who support Trump should be considered “deplorables” — to use Hillary Clinton’s impolitic term. I’m referring to the neo-Nazi, white supremacist, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic forces, all of which were encouraged by Trump at every turn. They will still constitute a very real danger to our country while Mr. Trump is sulking back in Trump Tower.

I’m hopeful that if the Biden/Harris leadership can reduce the effects of the pandemic, and that their plans for job creation — especially with a sharp turn toward renewable energy — it will weaken the hold that Donald Trump held on a large segment of the American people.

But this is not just a question of Biden/Harris and the people — who can’t just sit back and wait for President Biden to work miracles. There will have to be a lot of public pressure behind him, and even movements to take his plans a step further. And let’s not forget that in our system of checks and balances, the executive branch is only as effective as its relationship with Congress. There’s a possibility that the Senate will wind up in Democratic hands — just barely. But if it remains in Mitch McConnell’s nefarious hands, the march toward undoing Trump’s damage and realizing Biden’s domestic and international plans will be more of a slog than a stride.

But I believe that with Trump gone, and with the working relationships Biden had with Republicans when he was their colleague, they will feel freer to compromise. And since they always have their eyes on the next elections for Senate, even though Trump got a whopping 72-plus million votes, they had to be even more impressed that Biden got over 5 million more!

Fingers crossed.