Post Election Reflections

What a stem winder! Who expected the 2024 elections to turn out this way, but here we are, four weeks later, wondering what happened, why it happened and what it means for the future? Everyone has his own opinions, and mine are no better than yours, but perhaps I may be allowed to express a few thoughts on the matter. I avoided public endorsements before the election, but now that it’s over, I believe it is appropriate to express a few personal observations.

Surprise

Almost no one predicted the decisive victory for Donald Trump and the Republican majority in House and Senate. Why? Pollsters are paid good money to track voters’ intentions so they try hard to get it right. Polling is a business and pollsters need to demonstrate competence if they expect to be hired in the future. News organization and political campaigns seek to understand the mood of voters. News broadcasters don’t enjoy looking like fools the day after the election, and political organizations want to know if their strategies are succeeding so they can adjust accordingly. Pollsters are fairly accurate most of the time, but this time they were caught flat footed. Nearly everybody got it wrong, and some wildly so.

Analysis

But why? Why was this election so difficult to predict? That’s the big question. There are any number of factors, but I think one is the extreme anger directed against Trump and his supporters. When Marti and I visited Maine in 2016 and again in 2020, we saw more signs for Trump than for either Clinton or Biden. Voters proudly declared their support. This year, we saw few Trump signs, perhaps not more than one out of ten for Harris. Seeing the forest of Harris/Walz signs, I turned to Marti and said, “I don’t think Trump can win. He doesn’t have nearly as much support as before.” I was wrong, but where did all the Trump signs go? Myriads who voted for him were unwilling to publicly identify with him, probably because they were cowed by relentless hectoring. The very ones who most loudly mourned the loss of public civility, for which they blame Trump, were themselves guilty of shocking levels of verbal abuse. But when voters walked into the privacy of the voting booth, a majority voted for Trump, perhaps in part to strike a blow at those who lambasted them for eight years. They kept their opinions to themselves, even from pollsters, but they voted in huge numbers and turned what looked like a narrow defeat into a landslide victory. Those who bullied others into silence succeeded in energizing millions of voters eager to express their opinion at the polls where it counts. Bullying generally backfires eventually. Cancel culture may have elected Trump.

Furthermore, voters resented a glaring double standard in both media and government. Serious infractions by Democrats were blithely swept under the rug, but bogus infractions were manufactured against Trump. News organizations who once prided themselves for being even-handed threw pretense of neutrality to the wind as they became propaganda machines determined to defeat Trump. Even NPR, funded in part by taxpayers’ dollars, sounded more like a campaign arm of the Democratic party than a professionally factual news organization. I listen to NPR regularly because it offers quality programs, but I resent my tax dollars being used to support one party’s campaign against another. Don’t think this went unnoticed by voters. Instead of media persuading voters to ditch Trump, I think they induced millions to support him because of blatant unfairness. Voters may have been saying, “Take that, you hypocrites. We don’t like those who are supposed to be neutral taking sides. It isn’t fair, it isn’t right, and I’m voting my disapproval.” Previously unseen levels of shameless bias may have elected Trump.

Trump as a Person

Most Christians realize that Donald Trump is no Christian. His language and lifestyle reveal an unconverted man who needs the saving grace of God, for which many pray. But Christians overwhelmingly voted for Trump, but why?

Who made the rule that Christians are required to vote only for Christians? Opponents of President Trump love to scold Christians for voting for someone who is clearly not a Christian, but that’s beside the point. It’s a red herring calculated to manipulate. The simple truth is that Trump represents many positions which align with a Christian world view. He is not a Christian, but he supports Christian values more-so than his opponent. Since no third-party candidate had a chance to win, there were only two possibilities to become president. Christians, like other citizens, weighed the only realistic choices available and voted for the one they believed most aligned with their values. It’s not that complicated. Far from being mindless lemmings governed by fickle emotions, most Christians evaluated their options and made an intelligent choice. It seems to me that never-Trumpers were more likely to be blinded by emotions. They don’t like Trump, so they refuse to vote for him. Period. End of discussion. However, millions, who don’t care for Trump as a person, weighed the facts and voted based upon which party is most likely to utilize the power of government for good or ill. This is bigger picture voting rather than single issue voting.

Trump as a Politician

Despite his failings as a person, Donald Trump has proved to be a skillful politician. He won by appealing to a wide variety of Americans. Pundits are suggesting a realignment of the two major parties because so many who traditionally voted Democrat crossed over to the other side. Some no doubt voted against progressivism rather than for Donald Trump, but in spite of an inordinately high disapproval rating, Mr. Trump persuaded millions of voters to abandon their previous party and support him. Two weeks after the election, Trump’s favorability rating jumped to a new high. It would be foolish to dismiss the political skills of this man. He knows how to hold attention and communicate clearly, a rare commodity in the world of politics. Imagine how popular he might be if he combined the gentle friendliness of Ronald Reagan with popular political positions.

Trump as an Instrument of God

God is sovereign in all human affairs, and He ordained that Donald Trump would be the next president of the United States. Elections reveal what God is doing. This year, God determined to install an ungodly man who embraces a number of conservative policies. In doing so, He slowed the momentum for unrestricted abortions, in-your-face transgenderism, public flaunting of the rule of law, and a host of other ills that are destroying America. I am under no delusion that all the decisions by President Trump will be principled or wise. I am already concerned by some of his choices for cabinet. But a major shift has taken place and God is the ultimate cause. May He now be pleased to do what is more needed by bringing true revival to our nation. Until that occurs, we will see public policy swing back and forth from left to right and back again, but if revival breaks forth, the moral fabric of our nation will be changed for years to come. Policies change with shifting political winds, but each downward movement usually dips lower than before, and each upward return usually stops short of its previous level. Without spiritual renewal, the overall trend will continue downward. But if God moves in a mighty way, new standards of public righteousness will replace the current moral malaise.

Brethren, let us renew our own commitment to the Word of God, and let us pray that God will spiritually revive thousands of churches and millions of people all across America. “O God to us show mercy and bless us by your grace.”