The 2020 Election

The 2020 election is finally over. Let’s look at the main reasons Trump did not, and could not, win reelection.

COVID

Trump’s greatest failure, and the most identifiable reason he lost his reelection bid, is the pandemic. He let a crisis morph into a catastrophe. Now let’s be clear, this would have been a problem no matter who was in office, however, this thing got out of hand quick. Many people felt like in the end, Trump just didn’t care. He promoted a free for all where every state had to compete against each other for PPE while figuring out how to handle the pandemic on their own. Trump knew it was a political time bomb but just kept trying to play it off. Instead, Trump just blamed it on China and kept calling it the “China Virus” in a branding attempt many bought into, unfortunately, but not everyone did. At the end of the day pragmatic moderates (and even many true conservatives) couldn’t stand seeing the country continue down this path anymore and wanted the adults back in charge.

Divided the Nation

Trump refused any conciliatory measures to unite the nation, and instead worked to further the divide for political purposes. He knew his voters were and he calculated that if he continued playing to that half he’d be fine. I’m sure the “fuck your feelings” gang appreciated that but many others did not. In fact, things were getting so out of hand, business just assumed civil unrest and began planning for massive riots if Trump won.  If he took another tract from the get-go, who knows what 2020 would have looked like for him. But he never did, he just double downed and really pissed off a lot of people who refused to be quiet about it any longer. If you don’t believe me, see how females under forty voted against him en masse. Although Trump did bring in new voters, he also encouraged his detractors to take to the polls in ways we’ve never witnessed before.

Personally, I will never understand the adulation and adoration of Trump. I naturally distrust political leaders of all types regardless of party, but some of the smartest people I know were fervent supporters of him, going so far as buying flags and hats with his name on it and sharing pro Trump memes daily on social media. As such, I always held back judgement because maybe I was just missing something. I can’t have all the answers. However, I think I pegged Trump correctly the entire time. Leadership takes character and Trump lacks it despite people’s perceptions of him.

Questionable Ethics

When Trump’s presidency is all said and done we’re going to get some sunlight on the level of graft and outright bribery this administration supported. Trump’s refusal to separate himself from his business interests and the presidency always ruffled my feathers and I think there is a story there. Supporters point out that the Trump organization always refunded the “profit” over these types of questionable transactions. However, any person with a business background knows that profit is below the contribution margin line, and covering those fixed costs saves businesses from bankruptcy. Notice they did not refund that piece.

Overall I don’t think Trump is immoral. Instead, I think he is amoral. He doesn’t see things in terms of right or wrong, just what does or does not benefit himself. People believed in him because they thought he would be their advocate, that he would somehow use his power to get better deals for the average American citizen because he talked like them and he was one of their own. Far from the truth.

Terrible Governance

How many people can name all of the staffers who’ve either quit or been fired from Trump’s administration? People make an argument he was cleaning out the “deep state” but lots of these people were those he personally hired. It was a revolving door (and continues to be). Why did so many quit? Why were so many forced to quit? What were they being told to do that they refused to do? All of these questions need answering. Why were family members given top level security clearance and roles in the government over more experienced personnel (and ultimately accomplished very little)? If you think about it, he gave some really important jobs to family members, and nepotism is the most common form of corruption. I don’t foresee many government buildings being renamed in honor of Jared Kushner. But he was not the only issue.

Anyone remember how he bragged about generals making up his advisory? Anyone remember Jim Mattis? He was the DEFENSE SECRETARY at one point and quit because he felt Trump was a threat to the Constitution.

Child Separation

The stated policy of separation of children from their parents, and the 500 or so children who are essentially wards of the state will be the greatest sin of his presidency. It will also be the greatest sin of this country for those of us who said nothing. I foresee these children being interviewed a dozen or so years from now to talk about how traumatic this process was for them. People wonder how so many were separated, but if the stated policy is separation as a deterrent how can you be surprised at the outcome?

Of all his shortcomings, I found this one the most appalling. This was a major black eye for us as a nation that we won’t recover from reputation wise.

Character

In the end, people voted against Trump more than they voted for Biden. People were fed up with the constant media presence, the picking of fights with anyone and everyone, the constant grievances that he ticked off daily while he took his morning shit and Tweeted about it. Biden’s biggest advantage was that he wasn’t as polarizing (aka disliked) as Hilary Clinton was in 2016, and Trump’s policies had time to manifest themselves and leave people shook. Joe Biden seems like a nice guy, Trump not so much.

I do believe without COVID Trump would have been reelected. At the end of the day people will vote for their economic interests if they do not see their future improving. It’s hard to look at the millions out of work, the upcoming eviction crisis, and a hunger problem in a first world nation and not feel some anxiety. I hope 2021 is a better year. I suspect the first quarter of the year will be very trying, but by April enough of the vaccine will be out that things may start getting back to normal. I do expect that once it does a pent up economic demand is going to bully shove the economy again. I just hope more of us survive until then.