Trump's Victory May Be a Turning Point for Democrats

The war is over. But which war, you ask? The relentless battle between the Democratic party and Donald Trump that began the moment he descended the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his presidential run.

It's over. Finally. After a long and tumultuous struggle, it's no more. The American people have spoken, and the result is crystal clear. The Democrats did not win anything, and there's no question about the popular vote.

Trump won it all. The Republican party won it all.

This isn't meant to gloat, but to highlight an important takeaway for the Democrats: their policies simply aren't resonating with the public. Their role isn't just to push an agenda, but to support the wishes and best interests of the people they serve.

That means it's time to get back to work. While it's naive to think that all infighting will cease just because the war is over, Democrats still want to win elections. It's been made clear they can't achieve that by pushing agendas that are unpopular.

This isn't to suggest I am suddenly rooting for Democrats. It's simply to say that there needs to be a realization on the part of the Democratic party that too much time has been wasted. We have myriad problems that need solving, and the American people have made it clear what those problems are. The only solution is to get to work on those issues and make them the primary focus.

In other words, it's time for the Democrats to support the Republican agenda and work to accomplish what the American people have clearly mandated.

The idea that some Democrats feel the need to double down seems both counterintuitive and counterproductive. They had their chance to present their case and deliver results, but the American people rejected it. As I have become fond of saying lately, "If you don't know why you lost, you can't know why you weren't winning." If they continue to push policies that costs them elections, how can they expect to win future ones?

This likely means we will actually see less infighting and less resistance to Trump's agenda and Republican initiatives. Democrats should closely monitor how the American people respond to what gets passed, and act accordingly.

Isn't that the essence of representative government? To represent the interest of The People, not to impose the values of those in power. Trump won because he promised to do what Americans want to see done.

Think of it this way; a body shop won't satisfy a customer by painting their car blue when they asked for red. Similarly, you won't make the American people happy by pushing policies that the Democrats want but the People don't.

Some Democrats are already shifting their stance on their own issues or are at least softening their opposition to Trump, with many saying, "It's time to get on with things and support the decision of the American people."

Interestingly, Senator John Fetterman, who it alarms me a bit to say, I find myself agreeing with more often than I might care to admit, on a variety of issues, happens to be one of those Democrats saying, "We need to support this president."

This isn't to suggest that the road ahead will be a smooth one. There will still be those who want to continue the fight. However, the path forward has never been clearer. Democrats who want to stay in favor and win elections will need to adapt and focus on moving the country forward, rather than steering it towards a direction the People have clearly rejected.

The People have become weary of the constant fighting. They're exhausted by a media they no longer trust to deliver honest news. They're tired of being told what to believe or being called names if they disagree. They're tired of being told how good things are when clearly things are bad. What they want are sensible policies that honor the values and traditions that made America great. 

Things have become too radical recently. People are ready to move forward, make the country great again, and restore it to one they can more easily recognize. Now that the war is over, we have a much better chance of achieving that. I believe the more thoughtful Democrats understand this too. If they only continue to fight the will of The People, they risk losing their place in office.

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© 2024 Jim Bauer 

The Uprising of the American Party?

These days, being a lifelong republican is met with some angst. Many times in the past I have written about the disarray of the democrat party and how that ultimately effects their standing with the voters, and of course, how it effects elections. But here we are, republicans, pretty much in a mess worse than I have ever seen on the democrat side. And what is it all about? Donald J. Trump, of course. He's absolutely frazzled the establishment—and frankly I don't think they know how to handle this. But it should be easily explained away for these guys if you ask me.

Why is Donald Trump, our nominee, resonating with the voters of our party?

Look, it's a simple thing really. I have long said that I do not feel a need for term limits in Congress and the Senate so long as the voters are engaged and paying attention. We have a system designed where it is the people's choice who stays or who goes when it comes to elections. The only reason term limits would be needed is when voters are pretty much tuned out, not paying attention, and just checking boxes at the polls without knowing what it is their elected officials accomplished...or did not accomplish.

Clearly the voters are engaged right now, at least for sure on the republican side, and what they have concluded is that the republican party has not done their job. Thus, Donald Trump gets their vote.

But yes, this is a time of angst. If you have paid attention to the republican party over the years the one thing many of us have argued is that we do not ever have a candidate that speaks directly to the people. We wind up with guys who look exactly like the tired and old stereotype of a typical republican. Old rich guys.

Granted, Trump is old. And he's rich.

But, he's Donald Trump. And say what you will about why Donald Trump is a household name for many Americans no matter which side they happen to be on, he has at least accomplished one major thing—he has tuned in many Americans to the electoral process who may have never bothered to care or tune in at all to.

So, he at least has our attention. Republicans and democrats and independents and non-voters alike mind you.

And because they (the American people) are now tuned in they now also realize an awful truth. Washington D.C. and all of these elites who reside there now, and who frankly have been there before them for many years, are screwing us over and good. And they have gotten away with it largely because no one was paying attention, and no one was there to bring it all to light. Donald Trump is saying to the American people what is wrong with the process, what is wrong with America, and why it is so important we all get it this time around and begin the long and daunting process toward real change. To start the process of restoring America to HER people as it was intended by our founders, and stop dead in their tracks the establishments on both sides to stack the deck and rig the whole kit and kaboodle to the detriment of everyone.

Americans rejoiced about change not so long ago when Obama made it his promise to bring it about. But he didn't change anything for the better, and unfortunately no one was paying attention to what he failed to do, and thus he was elected twice.

So, the republican party now has a guy at the forefront who is speaking to swaths of Americans, who is bringing new excitement to the electorate and bringing new-found interest to the party, but yet all they want to do is shut him down. Why? Because they don't like what he says, or how he says what he says. Look, the truth is that Donald Trump is more like you and I despite his billions of dollars in the bank than any career politician, and frankly I think this is one of the reasons why he scares the hell out the establishment the way he does, and why they are so eager to try to shut him down. He's an American. Dare I say an everyday American? When he speaks about economics, and when he speaks about wars, and when he speaks about back room deals in Washington he speaks like each and every one of us speaks in our break rooms, at our family gatherings, and in general to our friends. He says what is wrong, he does not parse his words, he does not spout off in terms no one can understand, and in ways that skirt the truth and make the ugly sound pretty. And again, this scares the hell out of the establishment because for years they have been able to use words in fancy ways to make the American public see things in a different light than the truth would lay out before them.

If you have a good thing going and no one is any the wiser, why throw a cog in the wheel to mess that up?

That's exactly what the establishment has had for years. A good thing. The people were none the wiser. And so long as they were none the wiser, why mess that up?

Trump is the bad guy, and the target of establishment republicans, because he threatens to mess up a good thing they have had going for years. That's why they want to shut him down. That's why they want to rally around Hillary Clinton, attacking Trump instead of her. Because Trump threatens their existence in a way no one before him really has. He's telling the American people the truth. He's shedding light on well hidden realities. He's engaging regular, working people like you and I. He's getting us, the American people, the average working Joe, to see that what politicians tell us, what they promise us, and what they do, and what the effects of lies, innuendo, and spin do to hurt us greatly with us virtually unaware it is even happening—but slowly. The pain comes slowly. The tactics and the policies and the fancy speak hurts us in calculated measure over time so that piece by piece, bit by bit, wrong by wrong, we simply get used to things as they are, and by the time things are so bad—we don't feel the pain as greatly. It has become the norm. It has become our way of life.

Surely the democrats have mastered that with the welfare state. 

It's like the mindset of an embezzler really. I can take a few pennies here and a few pennies there and no one really notices. The ones who get away with it are the smart embezzlers. The ones who get caught are the ones who grow impatient with the process of embezzling a little bit and then just go for broke. Politicians don't have to grow impatient. They control the process. For them they don't have to worry about getting noticed. There is nothing more friendly to an embezzler than the lack of an accountant. And for a politician, there is nothing more friendly than a voting public who is none the wiser.

Trump is the accountant who just walked in on a huge and long-time embezzlement.

And just take a look at who's who in the establishment now denouncing Trump—again—either directly or indirectly. Career politicians. Elites. Paul Ryan, the Bush family, and John McCain just to name a few. Go ahead and toss in the Romney family as well if you want to. These are family businesses...careers in politics. These are the embezzlers of our freedom and of our lives, stripping away one piece at a time, slowly but surely, but with calculation. And now someone has called their bluff. Now someone has shed light on their deeds, And now someone has the ear of the people.

Again, this scares the hell out of them.

The fact is that I am a republican. But I am also able to observe. I know what's going on and I don't like it. And that is why I can and do support Trump. Maybe it's not even a republican thing. Maybe that is just what I have been calling it all these years for lack of a better word. But I have checked the boxes just the same, and I had faith that the guys I sent to Washington with R's behind their names would do my bidding and make America a great place to live. I sent them there with the faith that they would right the wrongs of progressives and slam the door on liberal policies. I sent them there with faith that they would tell the American people the truth about why conservative principles worked better, and why anyone should rejoice in the implementation of conservative policy and ideology.

But they failed. And Trump is winning, at least when it comes to republicans. And he is dismantling the party. So being a republican these days is met with angst. Because I am angry as hell at my party and like so many American people are too. I am so angry that Trump resonates with me too. And I am angry that the republican party in all but denouncing Trump has shed light on the real corruption I denied was ever there within even my own beloved GOP. I am angry that it appears that the republican party, when all is said and done, really were no better than the democrats I so deplored were. I am angry that it appears that a two-party system is really just one party.

The political party.

And the rest of America be damned.

I am voting for Trump, now, not because he happens to the republican nominee. I am voting for Trump because I think he has the right plan to bring the country back to the people. Parties be damned. Republican, democrat, green party, libertarian, independent? To hell with all of that garbage. It's time to simply be an American.

Is An American Revolution In Play?

For political junkies like myself, elections are to me what the Super Bowl happens to be for the die-hard football fan. You could say that right now we are essentially in the playoffs. But this is a special game this time around. What we have here, folks, are not the usual teams we might see having their shot at the big win. Of course I am talking about the current lineup of GOP contenders vying for the coveted republican nomination. In the top three currently? We have runners who are not really politicians. And to my mind, that makes these early stages very interesting.

Donald Trump, a real estate mogul, celebrity, and businessman. Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon. And Carly Fiorini, a former corporate CEO.

Part of what makes this so interesting to me is that it seems to indicate a shift in the American psyche. And we're not just talking about the GOP. We're talking about everyone because with the numbers currently held by these front runners this means that they are capturing the minds of republicans, independents, and some democrats as well. When 23 million viewers tuned in to the first republican presidential debate hosted by Fox News, this audience was not GOP exclusive. The People clearly tuned in. Granted, it was not to necessarily hear what the republicans had to offer. They tuned in to see Donald Trump.

And we're not just talking about republicans here. We're talking about

What was he going to say? How was he going to react to the other candidates? Was he going to be his usual candid self and quite possibly self-destruct in one swift fell swoop? Or was he going to come out a clear victor in the first debate in spite of being combative and candid?

I think what Donald Trump did manage to accomplish in the first debate, capturing record audiences aside, is quite amazing actually since it flies in the face of the status quo. He's as far from "presidential" as anyone I have seen come onto the playing field. He's abrasive, doesn't care about being politically correct, and says exactly what he is thinking without any filter. Despite all of the odds against him he came out punching and did no real damage to his image, or his run. His numbers grew after that first debate and for a very long time following it, he managed to hold a very strong, double digit lead in the polls. At least among the other republican candidates. Even after essentially lambasting Fox News' Megyn Kelly. And by the way, this also helps to keep liberals and democrats tuned in to him because clearly they are no fan of Fox News. In their minds, Trump is on their side if for no other reason than he will not cow-tow to the so-called "fake" news channel.

And by the way. He is not cow-towing to any news organization. And let's be clear on something else. He's not cow-towing to the republican establishment either. More on that in a bit.

The truth is that at some point even the most misinformed, or complete non-information voter, has to at least see that there is something wrong with the way that our government is currently run. They have to see the reality of failed policies on both sides, in-fighting among political parties, and strong arming for power. Not for the good of the American people. People are tired of it, and I think they are tired of being harmed by it. Moreover I think it is clear that more Americans are starting to understand that they are being harmed by it. Something that I think has been lacking in the past couple of decades.

When Donald Trump says, "Let's make American great again," it resonates with the people because we all are keenly aware that America is in decline. And we either stop it and do something about it, or we let the entire country become an historical footnote of a once great power that is no more.

So Donald Trump seems to be highlighting what is wrong with the direction of this country, and is laying the blame on everyone even though he is running as a republican. It's politics and politicians that he is citing as the leading reason the country is going to Hell in a hand basket.

In a way I think his "strategy" is brilliant. Run with a conservative message, and somehow make yourself unrepublican while doing it. He deserves at least some kudos for that.

Enter Ben Carson.

The question for me becomes with the shift of the American psyche clearly in play, and with Donaldextremist clown, is he part of the reason that Ben Carson has come into the limelight and has closed the gap in Trump's lead? The thing is that Ben Carson is the polar opposite of Trump. But where they stand together is that neither of them are politicians.

Trump doing so well despite the clear notion that at another time in our history he would be situated in the back of line as an

What I would have completely expected, at least among republican polling, is for one of the other more "traditional" candidates to have closed the gap. Granted, that may still happen. But the fact that Carson did it first instead is another affirmation for the idea that people are changing their minds about who we potentially elect, and how we tackle the problems facing this nation. Ronald Reagan essentially won by a landslide by simply asking the American people, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" The answer was no, and people knew it. The question seems to be right now, "Are you better off now with politics as usual? Or is it time to set aside the status quo, toss out the politicians, and take back what has been taken from we the people?"

It is the heart and soul of Trump's slogan by the way even if Trump never sees his way to the White House. The American people understand its message and what it means for the future. And whoever ultimately wins the nomination can take that home and think about it, and think about the way they will actually carry out the work of the American people. And know that the American people will be paying more careful attention, and will only allow for the message to be carried out and turned into a reality or else their political careers are kaput.

Okay. Maybe. It is safe to assume that perhaps I am buying too much into this interesting dynamic.

Either way, I tend to think that if the nominee ultimately becomes one of these three. Non politicians. It  of course means a victory for the GOP. But a winning non politician? So long as they remain just that? I think that's a major victory for the country and the American people. Whether or not it will mean the death of politics as we have seen it for many years now is surely still up for debate. I'll believe it if and when I see it. But it sure would be nice to see real hope and change this time around, and the restoration of a country that was once optimistic, productive, innovative, powerful, and admired the world over.