The US election, while shocking, was not a repudiation of democracy
The US election, while shocking, was not a repudiation of democracy
Americans believe firmly in democracy, and Trump winning is not an endorsement of authoritarianism
Summary
Donald Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential election, winning both the popular and electoral votes, challenges expectations about democracy’s resilience in America.
Kamala Harris’s campaign, centered on “joy and hope,” struggled against strong headwinds. Approximately 65% of voters felt the country was on the “wrong track,” while two-thirds said the economy was in bad shape, a sentiment that heavily favored Trump.
Nearly half of voters reported they were personally worse off than four years ago, and 75% cited inflation as causing their family “moderate or severe hardship.” Trump overwhelmingly won among these voters.
Analysts argue Trump’s win isn’t a rejection of democracy but reflects public desire for “strong leadership” amid national dissatisfaction.
OK people, things do look kind of bleak over here. Many of the "guardrails" to fascism have been removed. Entire Federal departments are about to be gutted, the deficit is about to mushroom, the DREAM act people who have only ever known this country will get forcefully deported and anyone working here on a visa has got to be very concerned that it won't get renewed. But I choose to believe that there are still guardrails left:
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Congress: yes, both houses will likely be led by Republicans, but with thin margins. We saw in the last Congress that Republicans are quite dysfunctional as a caucus (especially in the House), and many of those pickups have been in close districts. If Trump does start to send immigrants (legal or otherwise) to camps and these yoyos allow it , they will have to answer for it back home. I hope their constituents give them hell for it.
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The Military: Trump complains that he wants Generals that are more like Hitler's Generals. I choose to have hope that the best of the best that lead our armed forces will refuse to let that happen. If Trump orders the military to do anything blatantly unconstitutional, I hope they have the courage to tell him where their oath lies. (OTOH, if Trump starts to serially fire all the top military brass, we know shit's about to go down.)
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The States: Republicans have been screaming about States Rights for decades now, it's time for Democrats to take their turn. Liberal states should not be afraid to tell the Federal Government to pound sand when it is appropriate. This is especially important for election stuff, which needs to remain under State control. It might even be easier now that Project 2025 will gut a lot of the "Administrative State". States may need to fill in where the Federal Government shrinks.
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The Courts: nah, I have given up on those.
The ironic thing is that if it does turn out that these guardrails have any effect at all, and we still have fair Federal elections in 2 and 4 years time, Republicans will complain that all this talk of creeping fascism was overblown, in spite of all this resistance to it.
"Republican dysfunction" only matters if the Republican in question fears they might lose re-election. If the GOP thinks they'll never have to worry about that again, they're going to be much more brazen than ever before about their power grabs.
Unless they change the rules, Trump cannot have another term. I'd honestly be surprised if he survives all the way until 2028 anyway, he's already ancient and pretty unhealthy. Add to that that people might try and take matters into their own hands and you get a pretty dangerous mix. I'm not sure if JD stepping in would be better though, he seems even crazier and definitely more insidious than the orange man.
The moment Trump sets foot in the white house again, the economy becomes his problem. If he actually puts those tariffs in place, he will be causing immediate price hikes that will be felt by everyone. That alone would likely cause a massive backlash in the midterm elections.
Looking forward to seeing if you and the guardian, and media in general or my view is wrong.
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