Trump apparently has no intention of meeting with Biden during the transition or attending his inauguration in January. Instead, he continues to shout fraud on twitter, demanding that Biden "prove" how he got 80 million votes before he leaves the White House. Of course, one can argue that the 74 million votes that Trump received is even more suspicious, given how many Republicans publicly stated they were voting against him in the general election.
It was an odd election. Despite a raging pandemic, over 65% of Americans voted this year. By far the largest turnout in over 100 years. It seems Trumpers and Never-Trumpers were both equally energized this time around, turning out in record numbers. Democrats also flocked to the polls but not in the big numbers many expected, as they were unable to flip the Senate (even with two run-off elections pending in Georgia) and lost seats in the House. This election was all about Trump.
The various polls indicated a blow out. Biden was ahead or even in virtually every battleground state. He held onto most of these battleground states, but by the thinnest of margins. He won Nevada by less than 4000 votes, Arizona and Georgia by roughly 12,000 votes, and Wisconsin by 20,000 votes. That's less than a 50,000 vote margin. Had these states gone the other way, Trump would indeed be celebrating a second term, despite Biden winning by more than 6 million votes nationwide.
So, why do people cling to Trump? It's not like he did anything for them, especially during a pandemic that has seen more than 250,000 die from COVID-19 since it broke out in the country in January. You would think this alone would have been enough to seal Trump's doom. Instead, he seemed to appeal to a great many people who either thought coronavirus was a hoax or nothing to really worry about. His rallies were packed right up to election day. Pundits dubbed them superspreader events, as no safety measures were encouraged and many got infected afterward. It doesn't help when thousands were left stranded when their buses failed to pick them up. It didn't daunt his supporters. One woman said Trump was just testing their faith in him, as if he was God himself. It's safe to say no president has inspired such a cultish following. Not even Reagan could have gotten away with this much abuse. There are persons who would literally freeze to death for Trump.
With that in mind, you understand why Trump is incredulous of Biden's 80 million votes. He thinks no one can match the pull he has over the country's imagination. Even those who hate him are sorely going to miss him once he is forced to step down on January 20, 2021. He inspires adoration and hatred in equal measure. It's the hatred part he didn't factor in.
Still, we have to deal with the fact he managed to get 74 million persons to vote for him and came within a hair's breath of winning a second term. These persons are not going to go away quietly. They will continue to support Trump and have contributed heavily to so-called legal defense fund, as he continues to fight the certified results in these battleground states.
Most of this money is not going toward his legal challenges. If it was, he would have paid for a full recount in Wisconsin. Instead, he paid to have votes recounted specifically in Democratic districts. No widespread fraud was found. Instead, Biden gained 87 additional votes in Dane County. The Trump campaign is already plotting a 2024 challenge with a heavy war chest to fund their efforts over the next four years. He is simply using these challenges as a hook, given his voters similarly cannot believe he lost.
In their minds, Trump is invincible. The man beat the odds in 2016 and if it wasn't for all those fraudulent mail-in ballots would have won again in 2020. They are only willing to accept Trump's defeat by framing Biden as a cheater. They continue to believe they are the "moral majority."
Reagan was able to secure a second term and even a third term, as his Vice-President George H.W. Bush handily won the 1988 election over Michael Dukakis. For 12 years the Republicans owned the White House and were essentially able to stymie any Democratic legislation on Capitol Hill. Tip O'Neill was forced to compromise on any number of legislative packages to get the president's signature. Reagan actively promoted the line-item veto to trim these omnibus bills of their excess. Eventually, the Republicans took control of Congress but alas had to deal with a Democratic president in the White House, who similarly threatened to veto their bills unless they compromised. There have only been small windows where Washington was controlled by one party.
One of those windows was during the first half of Trump's tenure. This was a golden opportunity to push through Republican legislation, especially with Mitch doing away with the filibuster. While they did manage to get a massive tax cut through Congress, they accomplished little else. No major trade deals were ratified, nor was the infamous Affordable Health Care Act overturned. Trump wasn't even able to get money for the wall he pitched during the campaign. Still, Republicans seemed content, especially given they were able to get two new young justices on the Supreme Court.
Trump took credit for these meager accomplishments, despite the fact it was all Mitch's dirty work. The only purpose the president served was signing the tax cut bill into law and picking judges from a pre-selected list of nominees. Throughout his term, Trump served as a proxy for conservative interests, much like Reagan back in the 80s. He showed little interest in governing the country. Rather, he liked projecting an image of success as he had done on The Apprentice.
What these pundits and pollsters failed to take into account in 2016 and 2020 is just how much reality shows impact our notion of reality. Probably the best example of this is The Duck Dynasty. Here was a family of duck hunters who captured a large cross section of the public imagination with their homespun accounts of faith, family and duck calling. The Robertsons became so famous that Willie was invited to the 2014 State of the Union address by Louisiana Rep. McAllister. Republican lawmen lined up to get pictures with Willie and his lovely wife Korie, hoping to feed off their celebrity status. I think if Willie had chosen to run, he could have very well been the Republican nominee for President in 2020. Instead, he threw his support behind another Reality Show star Donald Trump. Papa Phil supported Ted Cruz.
These shows have a tremendous appeal to conservative rural Americans. Republican candidates for state and federal office covet the endorsements of these reality show stars, while at the same time denigrated the Hollywood endorsements that their Democrat rivals get. It seems that these reality show stars hold much more appeal to rural voters than do Hollywood celebrities. I suppose these voters can more readily identify with them as they "speak their language."
America is still a rural nation, despite the fact most Americans live in urban areas. We hold onto this fantasy image of America as a hard-working agricultural society even if most of us wouldn't be able to tell a hoe from a spade, let alone know what a duck whistle is. That's because rural roots run deep. We are one or two generations removed from living in the country and we often pine for that more earthy experience.
Trump hardly personifies that experience but he was effectively able to co-opt it thanks to the support of Willie Robertson and other figures who celebrate the heartland of America. Plus, he spoke in a way these rural voters could understand, despite his horrible syntax, or maybe even because of it, as it made him more "real." They don't like polished candidates. They prefer rough-hewn ones. Trump came across as a modern-day Jed Clampett to them, even if he looked and acted more like the effete Oliver Wendell Douglas of Green Acres.
This is why Democrats have to make more of an effort to reach out to "rural voters" if they want to gain a stronger hold of the political process at the state and federal level. It is hard to believe, but Iowa and South Dakota were once reliably Democratic states. West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee all voted for Clinton in 1992. So did Louisiana, the home of the Duck Dynasty! Granted, these are conservative Democrats who live in these states, but with a little bit of effort Democrats can find a way to reconnect with them. Neither Trump nor the Republican Party have a lock on these voters.
As we show Donald Trump the door in January, let us be mindful of the fact he is only as powerful as he thinks he is. He has no real hold on the public imagination, and once out of power will no longer look so invincible. This will be a good time to undermine a political party that allowed Trump to stage a hostile takeover with nothing to show for his acquisition. In other words, there are a lot of disillusioned rural voters out there anxious to support someone else who appeals to their imagination.
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