CenterlineRight: The Dust is Settling

Well….that happened. Donald Trump shocked a large part of the political world once again by not just winning the presidency for a second time…but by winning the presidency so bigly. The finality of his victory brought with it two very beneficial developments.

First, it no doubt tamped down the very real possibility of violent protests across America and it also took the legs out from under those who might have questioned the election results on various technical grounds. We have moved rather quickly from a brief Republican End Zone Dance to a Democrat Handwringing Pity Party to a Rapid Fire Appointing of a new Trump Administration. The extraordinarily bitter contention that many anticipated in a post-election climate simply has not materialized; it just never had a chance to breathe.

Secondly, whether selected people choose to acknowledge it or not, the result of this election was a clear and emphatic repudiation of the progressive liberal Democrat movement and the entire menu of woke lunacy that it supports. Four years is a lifetime in politics; but it would not be outrageous to predict that the Democrat presidential nominee we see in four years will be much less progressive-liberal (read Obama/Biden/Harris) and far more populist-liberal (read Clinton/Manchin/Shapiro). This is an absolutely marvelous occurrence and, if true, a sound course correction for the Democrat Party.

After getting off to a very strong and promising start on cabinet head nominees and staffing hires, Trump seems to have gone off the rails with RFKjr, Noem, Gabbard, Hegseth, and Gaetz. For one to have such an impressive list of available candidates and then make selections like these goes beyond the pale. “To the victor goes the spoils” and all that…but for heaven’s sake, can we at least apply a standard to people who will run the largest departments in our government (and thus all the myriad agencies that lie below them) that is, at a minimum, marginally above that of the Biden/Harris Administration? WTH? I fear this is simply swapping one form of fevered incompetence for a different form of fevered incompetence.

What a downer…picks like this sure does take some of the air out the celebration balloon. It brings back bad memories of the non-policy, personnel-centric drama that was so prevalent in the first Trump Administration. As the majority has decided, Trump was certainly the better of the two candidates…but he will not doubt have some downside. It is unfortunate but true that chaos might compete with accomplishment throughout Trump’s four years. Let us hope the better angels gain control and manage to maintain it.

As we begin to see the composition of a second Trump Administration take shape, it is worth one more look at this election. Let’s consider three topics in this order: What exactly happened? ... Why it happened? … Where does it take us from here?

What exactly happened?

Trump wins the Electoral Vote 312 to 226.

Trump wins the Popular Vote 75.6M to 72.4M (still counting).

With slim majorities, Republicans control both the Senate and the House.

Presidential, Senate, and House results…state by state: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/

Nearly $1,500,000,000 (BILLION) spent by both parties combined in this presidential election: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/11/the-daily-chart-cash-and-carry.php

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/election-integrity-movement-post-presidential-election-wins-and-future

https://thefederalist.com/2024/11/10/inside-the-brand-new-ballot-chasing-operation-that-helped-flip-republicans-the-senate/

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3224686/this-weeks-elections-upon-further-review/

Why it happened?

https://amgreatness.com/2024/11/09/america-calls-for-sanity-and-prosperity/

http://jewishworldreview.com/1124/lowry111124.php