After seemingly endless days of ballot counting, projections, nail biting, and theatrics galore… Joe Biden has emerged as the President-elect of the United States.
I am most decidedly not a Facebook fan, but like many others, I browse. What strikes me most is how the hatred that has become the norm in the nation is so blatantly reflected on social media. Many a Trump fan wrote endlessly about how the Trump haters would riot, loot, and pillage if Trump were to win.
Yet here we are on the other side of a Biden victory and, to begin with… President Trump is refusing to concede (at this writing)… preferring instead to continue to work his supporters into a lather by claiming election fraud, as he cunningly sowed the seeds months ago.
Weeks ago on an Internet forum I belong to, I rhetorically asked the question of why on Earth would Biden want to be President. Now that he’s been elected, I can only double down on the question. Here are the biggest reasons I ask:
- Trump has left behind a nation divided like never before. Forget the days of congratulating the winner and moving forward in unison for the betterment of the country. This has been replaced with angry denial, soon to be followed by all the obstructive actions that Trump (from the sidelines) and his followers can muster.
- COVID-19 has been handled badly by Trump and now it’s up to Biden to pick up the pieces. This is pretty much a “no-win” situation. Clamp down with measures that should have been implemented from the beginning… and the wrath of Trump Nation is sure to rain down on him. If the pandemic continues claiming victims, every victim will be “Biden’s fault.”
- Trump will continue harassing and stoking hate from the sidelines… and gloating with every clash, every confrontation, every blip. It will be difficult for him to contain or veil his glee at watching the mayhem. He will openly hope for a train wreck. Trump is nothing if not vindictive.
- Trump rode the coattails of the Obama administration on the economic recovery from the 2008-2009 recession. But those coattails have an expiration date, and Biden will now inherit whatever economic blunders Trump may have committed.
- Trump was afforded the luxury of blaming every single negative occurrence on Barack Obama. Conversely, Biden will not be afforded the luxury of blaming Trump. Political double standards is almost a national sport in the country.
I truly believe Biden will do his utmost to be a good President. But he is like the batter who steps up to the plate with two strikes. A vengeful and loud former President will continue rallying his troops from the sidelines. Some in a Republican-controlled Senate may secretly feel relief that Trump is no longer President… but many others will go out of their way to be disruptive, so as to be able to say “I told you so” in a shamefully political way of thumbing their nose at the Biden White House.
Biden’s health will probably be a concern for many, given his advanced age, and the extreme pressure-cooker atmosphere he is going to be walking into.
But there are three main reasons why I think the nation will be better off now that Trump will no longer be the President.
- Unlike Trump, Biden will be an open-minded President, willing to listen to reason and yield to a better opinion should his be wrong. He will not coerce or bully his staff into accepting his mistakes.
- Unlike Trump, Biden will honestly try to unite the country, an incredibly tall order but one that is sorely needed. Personally, I think much of the damage is permanent. Some people just got used to the “Trump way” after four years of this circus.
- The office of President of the United States will once again be a dignified position. One to be respected… not mocked.
What a week it has been! You’re absolutely right in predicting that Trump will not be riding quietly into the sunset. Now that he’s gotten used to having a national platform and a veritable legion of supporters (70 + million!) he’ll continue to want to exercise political power in any way that he can. I foresee 24/7 Twitter rants, book deals, and TV shows. Crossing my fingers, though, that he doesn’t end up on Dancing with the Stars… I like that show…
All joking aside, although the result of this election can be considered a victory for those that stood against Trump it doesn’t completely feel like one. The fact that so very many people consider him to be the best choice to lead this country even after the four horrendous years that we’ve experienced is deeply disheartening.
I consider myself a pragmatic individual and fully understand the fact that for many it all came down to economics. People believed that by voting Republican they would safeguard their jobs and not have to pay more taxes.
My view, however, is that sometimes as a citizen you are faced with the difficult choice of having put your own personal interests aside for the sake of the greater good of the country as a whole. This was one of those times. Policy should not trump decency. In the end, I’m grateful that my children will again have a president that they can look up to and learn from.
Excellent comment Angela, as always. We feel the same way, particularly regarding some key points, like the fact that so many people still supported Trump after these last four years. The economics you mention can be attributed in great part to the momentum already building during the last years of the Obama administration. But Trump, being the skillful salesman that he is, turned it all into “his” doing, at least in the eyes of his followers.
Your comment about “policy should not trump decency” (I feel bad putting “trump” and “decency” in the same sentence)… pretty much mirrors mine where I’ve stated that “the means do not always justify the end.” And your final sentence regarding your children is a powerful one, and one that resonates with many millions of parents who can now breathe a sigh of relief.
At the beginning of the Trump term I was admittedly hopeful that the message of “not wanting politics as usual” would spawn some good things for the country. Trump had promised to “drain the swamp”, among other things. Yet he became something even worse than “the swamp” he had promised to drain. I have a Trump supporter friend who claims people knew what they were getting (personality-wise) from the very beginning. My counter is that I was probably naively optimistic that Trump would put the good of the country ahead of his own ego and multiple personality flaws.
Now I see many Trump supporters wanting to tear down the Biden presidency before it even begins. This would explain why, like you, I don’t feel that Trump will just go away, and instead… will likely work twice as hard at creating havoc from the sidelines. He has already built his legions of supporters over the last four years.
Thanks for writing.