A Moderate Viewpoint In a Conservative Desert

11-20-24 – Well, it’s been some time since my last post.  I wasn’t exactly sure how I felt about the lead-up to the election with Biden dropping out and Kamala Harris being selected as the democrat party nominee.  The conservative media surely made a lot of hay over how she was selected and her previous statements on various policy issues.

I my humble opinion, what this election clearly showed is that the Democrat party needs to make some serious course corrections.  With the exception of abortion, the focus on other social issues fell flat, and in some cases hurt.  They are not issues that impact everyday Americans.  In many states, including some “battleground” states, overturning restrictive abortion bans were on the ballot and passed in seven out of ten states.  The measure in Florida garnered 57% of the vote and required 60% to pass.  In most cases, where 57% of the public supports something most politicians sit up and take notice.  Democrat senators were elected down ballot in many of the battleground states including Michigan, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Arizona.  Kamala Harris lost every one.  If Harris had won just those states, Trump would have still won, but with only 270 electoral votes . . . the minimum.  With things being that close, it could have easily been a different outcome.  It was a difficult race for Harris in any event.  She was not “vetted” through the ordinary primary process, she failed to distinguish herself from President Biden who has an abysmal approval rating, voters were upset over the economy and just didn’t believe it was improving because the ways it was improving did not impact their grocery and gasoline bills.  In fact, according to CNN exit polling, 68% of voters thought the economy was not good/poor.  Harris lost every age demographic except those 18 – 29. 

In addition to the economy, voters were more in line with Trump policies than Harris’.  Harris, while winning several demographics, did not win them by as much as Biden did in 2020. In fact, Harris did not address immigration and border issues which were clearly going to be a major issue in this election.  Voters just did not want the same old, same old.

The Conservative Talk Radio hosts are falling all over themselves with self-congratulations for Trumps win and for winning back both houses of Congress.  Putting aside their egos for a moment, in a way they are right.  Over 30% of Americans listen to Conservative talk radio and that is where they get their news.  There is little or no Moderate or Liberal talk radio to counteract this fact.  There are a few more podcasts for Moderates/Liberals coming on-line, but ALL the major conservative talk show hosts also have podcasts.  Some statistics from the New York Times show that cable television such as MSNBC have lost over 50% of their viewership since the election while Fox News has increased 21%.  There are some historical parallels to this in past elections, but it is troubling just the same. Now, with Comcast “spinning off” MSNBC and others, we don’t even know if they will be around in their present format.

So, given the outcome of this election with all three branches of government being in control of the Republicans I suggest we “fasten our seatbelts”.  Despite knowing nothing about Project 2025, the Trump picks for cabinet positions espouse some of the main tenets of that document and in fact the nominee for the Chair of the Federal Communications Commission helped write it.  Several others associated with the Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 are being strongly considered for major cabinet positions. We WILL be seeing an attempted “purge” of long-time career federal employees that do not agree with Trump. Even those who think they may be protected by Civil Service laws.  Remember, the Supreme Court gave the President nearly unlimited power and immunity from prosecution for “Executive Actions”.  In fact there have been confirmed reports of requests for information on emails that may contain words and phrases such as “climate change” to help ferret out those who will be removed.

With respect to immigration policies, Trump has already said he plans on using the military.  He included in the statement I heard that the plans will be to bring back troops from overseas.  I haven’t heard too much about this, but it seems it should be a major concern to our NATO allies and perhaps making good on Trump’s statement letting Putin “do whatever the hell he wants.”

The almost complete lack of qualifications for many of Trump’s Cabinet nominations is shocking.  Unfortunately, there are no guardrails to stop Trump from making some very bad choices except for the US Senate.  Let’s hope the Republicans do not abrogate their “Advise and Consent” constitutional responsibilities.  You can be sure that the Conservative MediaVerse is giving full support to this approach and exhorting their audience to put pressure on their senators to allow Recess Appointments. 

Now is the time to begin “gearing up” our opposition.  The Republicans are touting a “mandate” to do just about anything Trump wants. 

With the “Quality” of many of the top administration appointments, I fear for our country.  The Republicans and Project 2025 contemplate these major changes within the first 180 days.  Hang on to your hats!!