The dust is settling from the 2020 U.S. election season.
The biggest losers were the narratives of the left.
The Democrats’ dream of a blue wave fizzled. Most of the polls were, of course, wrong. This election was incredibly close.
Over seventy-million voters chose to endorse a second term for Donald Trump, despite the extraordinary efforts of the media, Hollywood elites, and big tech companies to convince the American public of the worst.
Democrats spent much of the election claiming to be the only party that represented the interests of minorities, and worse. Much of their rhetoric around Donald Trump and his supporters painted them as overt racists. Yet Trump’s non-white vote grew from previous elections to nearly 26%. He also captured a widened 12% of the Black vote, as compared to the 8% captured by Romney in 2012 and 4% by McCain in 2008.
Thirty-two percent of Hispanic voters chose Trump, as well as 34% of Asian voters. Democrats expected Hispanic communities in South Florida and the Rio Grande Valley of Texas to deliver victory for them in these battlegrounds. But Trump decisively won Florida and Texas while developing strong support among these communities.
In fact, in nearly every demographic of minority voter, Trump did better than he did in 2016.
This is a big headline. The left’s commoditization of racial issues in America for their political benefit backfired, and many walked away.
The Democrats also tarnished their self-awarded title of the “party of the working class.”
Joe Biden outspent Donald Trump by millions, and towards the final days of the campaign he touted his endorsements from Wall Street. Democrats were endorsed and celebrated by the richest of Hollywood and the corporate elites of the tech industry.
Meanwhile, Trump found historic support and record number of endorsements from labor organizations and trade unions. By exit polls, Trump won the vast majority of voters who were concerned about the economy and their paychecks.
GOP Senate wins mean that voters rejected the ideas of defunding the police, democratic socialism, and packing the court. Democrats spent most of Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation hearings trying to convince America that government-provided healthcare is the only way forward. Voters rejected this.
In a post-election call with Democratic colleagues, Representative Abigail Spanberger sternly warned that “defund the police” nearly cost her re-election. “And [never] use the word ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again,” she yelled.
The Republican party also became decidedly more female in their legislative representation. Thirteen new female GOP congressional candidates were elected to office. GOP women also fended off big money Democratic challengers in targeted races across the country.
Joe Biden’s win, if it holds, was by an extraordinarily narrow margin. Any claim of a “mandate” would be highly disingenuous.
While many have already begun to celebrate a Biden victory, such a result would be Pyrrhic for all Americans.
A Joe Biden administration will present no enthusiastic opposition to the radical elements of his party who seek to grow government, unrestrained. In response to nearly every problem society faces, his platform looks to state action.
His transition team is already exploring mask mandates and broad-sweeping executive action on firearms. He’s signaled that he wants to return America to lopsided agreements like the Paris Climate Accord and it is predicted that he will reenter the JCPOA.
After the election, Democrat Chuck Schumer said, “Now we take Georgia and change America.” Nancy Pelosi is claiming a mandate as she seeks to maintain House leadership, and refuses to denounce socialism as the ideology of her party.
Strikingly, the left can’t see that Biden’s election and the direction of the Democratic party is actually a loss for the values that they campaigned on.
It’s a loss for true equality, because there is no value to human life once government gets big enough. It’s a loss for the preservation of the American model that keeps ultimate power in the hands of its citizens. It’s a loss for Americans who seek to build prosperity out of liberty. And it’s a loss for the world who looks to America for hope in a system that prizes freedom.
And let’s not forget that our national media apparatus largely tipped its hand this election cycle to reveal its implicit bias for the left. Many big outlets acted as campaign surrogates for Biden, largely covering up the alarming revelations about Hunter Biden’s illicit activities in the weeks before the election. A media that puts its agenda before its journalism does not serve the interest of the public.
Conversely, limited government is in the interest of every American. Our uniquely free system provides uniquely ample opportunity for Americans to realize their dreams, and to prosper. American Constitutional protections from government beget true equality and equal justice under the law.
All of this is on the line as government grows.
So keep on fighting, conservatives. Regroup, and redouble your efforts to keep government limited. The left unleashed everything they had this cycle, and it didn’t work. To the benefit of every American, we must continue to keep the size and scope of government among the dialogue of the nation’s leadership and among the concerns of the American people.
Bryan Griffin of the London Center for Policy Research is a lawyer and author who specializes in American policy in the Middle East.
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