Rob Meyne
- Nov. 2, 2020
- 4 min read
One day out, a few more thoughts on curious realities that a win by either candidate would mean for the future of America’s elections.
If Biden wins, first, what does it mean that he hasn’t worked very hard? Biden’s taken off roughly half of the days during this campaign. Half. Are we supposed to think a person who can’t even campaign full-time is capable of being president? If he is healthy and vigorous, why hasn’t he worked harder?
Second, does grassroots organizing still matter? The Democrats credited their organizational efforts for victories in ’08 and ’12. This year, they don’t even have one. Trump’s team knocked on a million doors a week. The equivalent figure for Biden is zero. You can’t make that up in volume.
Third, winning campaigns generally require a clear, positive, and compelling message. It should resonate, address a deeply held concern or value, and motivate people to vote for you. Yet…Quick. What is Biden’s message? They have a platform, and it is easily the most extreme leftist document to ever serve as the foundation for a presidential campaign whose candidate isn’t named Debs. But that isn’t what people remember. What is Biden’s message? “Trump Sucks, and I’m not Trump.” He wants you to vote for him because he isn’t someone else. Got it? The main argument for his ascension to the presidency is a distinction shared by every human being alive. He isn’t Trump, and neither are we. Talk about setting a low bar. Being against something is usually thought to be less persuasive than being for something.
Fourth, a Biden win will further show the extent of media bias. Americans no longer go to the polls sharing a roughly consistent understanding of the issues. Many Democrats watch news outlets that are uniformly negative about the GOP and fawn over Dem leaders. So, they don’t know anything negative about them. If you don’t watch different networks or otherwise bend over backwards to get all sides of a story, you will not be well-informed.
Fifth, a Biden win will confirm that social media has perfected the art of feeding people only those stories they want you to see, and censoring those they do not. All of the major big tech, social media companies have algorithms in place that push stories on you that fit their priorities, and they don’t hesitate to block news that is problematic for the Democrats.
If Trump wins, this whole area could be ripe for governmental intervention in the next four years. If Biden wins it will be game, set, match. Big Tech gives most of its contributions to Democrats, as does Wall Street. If they get the keys to the kingdom for the next four years, the cozy romance between social media censors and their paramours in Congress will be impossible to disrupt.
This is 1984 level stuff. And it is scary as hell.
Sixth, a Biden win will confirm that a presidential candidate doesn’t have to answer questions if he is running as a Democrat. Biden has refused to even say if he supports packing the Court – which means he does – saying the American people don’t deserve to know. The number of news conferences held by the VP nominee, Kamala Harris, is the same as the number of Olympic gold medals won by John Candy. If a Republican tried to avoid answering these questions, they would be eviscerated.
Finally, a Biden win would mean, as if further evidence were needed, that huge swaths of voters who claim to be put off by Trump’s ethics or veracity are just, how can we say it, full of it! Biden is as dirty, compromised, and dishonest as a candidate gets. Yet the same people who complain about Trump’s character are happy to support Biden. When someone claims that Trump is dishonest, you can be assured, it isn’t about that at all. It is just an excuse to hate Trump.
If Trump wins? It will mean that deep-seated patriotism and love of country still matter. It will mean that people care more about what you do as president than whether they think you’re a swell guy. It will mean the basics, the blocking and tackling of campaigns, still matter. And it will be a huge vote for optimism. The Democratic leadership has, for years, followed a strategy of continually focusing on our nation’s flaws. In fact, you can sit through a Biden speech and not hear anything positive about America. Trump is the sole candidate who campaigns like he is proud of his country. That means a lot to many people.
A Trump win would also suggest that an individual with a track record in office, and an upbeat message, can prevail against long odds. Trump is running, as he did in 2016, against: the Democratic leadership; the ascendant socialist core of the Dem Party; rabid anti-Trumpers, never-Trumpers, and RINOs; nearly all of the mainstream media; the entrenched bureaucracy; and the leviathan that is social media.
A Trump win would also mean that enthusiasm matters. Yesterday, a Trump rally in Butler, PA, attracted about 60,000 people. That is not only exceptional by 2020 standards; it is an achievement unparalleled in American history.
If Biden wins, it will open the floodgate to the most socialist agenda any elected official has ever carried with him into Washington, and it will set the table for Kamala Harris moving into the oval office in short order. It won’t take four years.
If the president is re-elected tomorrow, it will be among the greatest political stories in American history. A Trump win will tell conservative patriots we still have a few winning arrows in our quiver, and that freedom, patriotism, and constitutional government are not yet out of style.
