- The election results shocked me….not that Kamala lost….I was quite fearful of that, all along thinking that Trump would edge her out….but the size of the loss and the way it transpired shook me up….could not sleep all night! Now I did see Kamala as a very flawed candidate and the Dem messaging as seriously lacking….I mean you can’t run a national campaign on a foundation of abortion rights and pointing out the nastiness of the other candidate….I saw ad after ad after ad on this….Ok, include that in your package, but a lot more was needed. I had hope when she took over from Biden, a notoriously weak and unliked candidate who more or less stumbled into the presidency after the pandemic. Biden’s arrogance and ego kept him from stepping down much earlier, so this kept her from having enough time to develop a new and cogent program. She was not able to detach herself from that legacy, and so she ended up doing worse than Hillary Clinton.
- Amazing how many previously blue states went red. Obviously she was not connecting with certain people. And this is where the story gets interesting, troubling, and very, very sad. The exit polls reveal a lot….here is a link to them:
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/exit-polls
- Gender Gap. Kamala got the overall majority of women voters, but not nearly as much as they were seeking. Less educated women did not come through at all. And amazing how awful the white man vote was.
- Age. If you analyze by age, she only did reasonably well with younger voters.
- Education. The more educated you were the more likely you would vote for her.
- Race and Nationality. Kamala did poorly among all white people. But surprisingly 13% of Blacks voted for Trump, mostly young Black men. And a really awful stat: over 40% of Hispanics voted for Trump….in fact, Trump got the majority of Hispanic men….first ever such election stat!!
Then a mind-boggling 65% of Native Americans went to Trump.
- Religion. I saved the worst for last. My Catholic community went 58% for Trump….and if they were white Catholics, they went 61% for Trump. I don’t know if I can call myself Catholic anymore…..
- Sexism, racism, misogyny, delusion are all alive and well and flourish in abundance behind many hidden doors.!
- There was an op-ed piece in the New York Times which I can’t access but which had this revealing title:
“Stop Pretending that Trump Isn’t Who We Are.”
And then there was this story with this title:
“For Black Women, America Has Revealed Her True Self.”
Indeed!
- And if you think the above is a bit extreme…too much, well then take a good look at this map. The state electoral map is bad enough but still it doesn’t reveal the full story. This, on the other hand, is an electoral map of all counties in the U.S., showing all blue and red counties. Look and weep:
- And, as always, the best analysis of this situation is by Chris Hedges. This just got published:
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/the-politics-of-cultural-despair
I can see where one could disagree with some of his points or find him “too dark.” But mostly, I think, he is right on, profound, and has a much larger vision of the problem than any political analyst.
No, I am not packing for Canada…. I take refuge with my ancient Chinese friends, poets and Chan masters who lived in nightmarish times. And there is this beautiful poem by Wendell Berry:
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.