My thoughts on the 2020 election

Here are my thoughts on the election so far:

1. The media has declared Biden the winner. However, that's not how our system works. The way it works is we vote. All the votes are in. Votes are counted. If there are discrepancies which warrant further investigation (e.g. voter fraud, irregularities that need to be reconciled), then independent investigations will be made. That's how we ensure the integrity of our elections. That's how we ensure future elections remain free and fair. This election isn't any different. We need to wait for the outcome, not accept what the media says - and arguably the media is saying Biden is the winner for malicious reasons (e.g. to foster the notion that Trump stole the election if he does win). In fact, isn't this what essentially happened in 2000 with Gore v. Bush?

2. However, even if Trump doesn't win the presidency, this election is an overall win for the GOP and conservatives in general:

a. Polls were predicting landslide victories for Democrats. They predicted a huge blue wave. But at best it was a blue trickle. Maybe not even that.

b. If Biden wins, he barely won. The presidential race was extremely close. One of the closest in American history. That doesn't give Biden any basis for a national "mandate" as president as I've been hearing leftists say. That means Trump and Republicans weren't at all "repudiated" as I've also been hearing leftists say. It was a super close race. On another day, it's quite possible Trump would have been victorious.

c. Even if Trump lost, consider how close he came despite all the powers that be stacked against him. For starters, this was in the middle of a pandemic. During a time of economic uncertainty. During tremendous social unrest by Antifa and BLM. Despite the mainstream media, Silicon Valley, Hollywood, Wall Street, the NBA, China, and many other powerful players openly campaigning on behalf of Biden and censoring Trump supporters. Massive mail-in votes which favor Biden. And so on and so forth. Yet the election was still super close.

d. Democrats were predicted to pick up as many as 7 Senate seats (net). To date Democrats have only picked up 1 Senate seat (net). They'll need to win the two Georgia run-offs to pick up 3 Senate seats, but this isn't guaranteed. If Democrats don't win the GA run-offs, then the GOP will keep the Senate. The GOP will retain Senate majority. Regardless, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins, Joni Ernst, and several other GOP Senate races were expected to lose big. Indeed, Democrats spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to unseat McConnell and Graham alone. But McConnell and Graham prevailed. They all prevailed. Most of them prevailed quite easily too.

e. Democrats were predicted to pick up as many as 10-15 House seats (net). To date Democrats have lost 6 House seats (net) and perhaps more. GOP picked up many House seats when they were expected to lose big. At least 6 (net) or more. Democrats retain a majority, but it's the thinnest majority of any party in years or decades.

f. Tons of conservative women elected to Congress this election. Over 20 women! This should be historic for feminists. At least as historic as Kamala Harris as VP (though women like Geraldine Ferraro and even Sarah Palin paved the way for Harris). But feminists who are liberal don't seem to care about this big wave of (conservative) women in Congress. I wonder why! Surely it can't be because they're not women. I guess it's because they're not the right kind of women. Just like POC and other minorities who are conservatives aren't the right kind of black, Latino, Asian, etc.

g. In passing, since it's not an elected position, it should be mentioned the Supreme Court is majority conservative. Especially with the addition of Amy Coney Barrett. Thanks to Trump for doing so rather than caving to the left and holding off like perhaps some other Republicans would have done.

h. GOP picked up a state governor and hold the majority of state governorships as well as the majority of state legislatures. If I'm not mistaken, state legislatures are the ones in control of congressional redistricting. That's coming up for the 2022 midterms. Now, one can debate the ethics of gerrymandering, but the fact is both parties do it to benefit themselves in future elections. So the GOP could benefit from redistricting the majority of states in the hopes of better securing future elections for conservatives. Again, this may bode well for the GOP in the 2022 midterms.

i. Somewhat ironically, if Biden won, then Biden won thanks in part to white men, while Trump almost won thanks in part to minorities. Trump has left the GOP with increased support from the working class, POC, minorities, etc. The GOP can build on this. Trump increased support for the GOP from blacks, Latinos, Asians, even suburban women. Apparently he lost ground with white men. But his gains with minorities chip away at Democrats who depend on minorities far more than Republicans do. GOP doesn't need a majority of minorities to win, only enough to diminish Democrats.

j. By contrast, it seems to me Democrats are increasingly becoming the party of woke middle and upper class white people who think they know what's best for everyone else. A party led by hipster coastal elites whose knee-jerk reaction to the slightest slight is to be offended and whose default mood setting is outrage. Such as billionaire technocrats who meddle with people's lives because they think they're more intelligent and educated than the unwashed masses. Those who believe they're more worldly-wise than average Americans because they've traveled to and are familiar with places like London and Paris, Beijing and Shanghai, or Sydney and Auckland, even though they've never been to the Midwest or Deep South. Often they despise the populism and patriotism of their own fellow Americans, but wax nostalgic about foreign cultures and traditions over and against our American ones. It may be no coincidence woke Americans also wish to create a pan socialist movement across the globe. However, thanks to Trump and this election, all this is out in the open, and many Americans now stand more united than ever against wokism, leftism, socialism. Many Americans don't want to see their cities become another CHAZ.

k. If Democrats were smart, and they haven't been terribly smart over the last few years, they'd steer a course away from the leftists in their party, woke-ism, the culture wars, Antifa, BLM, etc. However, it doesn't help that Biden is a fair-weather liberal. He changes his positions with the changing political winds. That indicates Biden will do whatever those in charge of his party wish for him to do. In fact, I suspect that's one big reason why Biden was chosen by the Democrats over, say, Bernie Sanders. Biden can and will be whoever the Democrats want him to be. Furthermore, it doesn't help that Biden seems physically and mentally frail, and if he steps down, then his VP is one of the strongest leftists in the entire Democratic party. On the plus side, if Biden and/or Harris govern as leftists, then the 2022 midterms should be fun.

l. Meanwhile, if Biden governs as a leftist, the separation of powers and gridlock should be a backstop against the leftist agenda of radical social transformation. For example, see Scalia describe the separation of powers and the virtues of gridlock:

m. There may be many reasons why Trump lost if he does lose. I think one of the reasons is probably because of his perceived disreputable character. (Although I don't think Trump is any less disreputable than Obama, Hillary, or Biden. I'd argue Obama, Hillary, and Biden may be worse or far worse.) Anyway, two good things about Trump is he could speak to average Americans without sounding like a politician and he's a fighter. However, if they were smart, the GOP could learn from this, and improve on it, by getting a candidate who has a respectable character, who can communicate with average Americans without sounding like a politician, and who is just as much a fighter as Trump. I hope this candidate exists.

n. I don't know what to think about NeverTrumpers. Especially the ones who launched the Lincoln Project super PAC to make sure Trump isn't re-elected and Senate Republicans lose their races. These are the guys who supported John McCain, Mitt Romney, and George W. Bush (though I also mostly liked W.). The establishment Republicans. People like George Conway (Kellyanne's husband), John Bolton, David French, David Frum, Max Boot, etc. I suppose they think they'll be relevant in the GOP again post-Trump. I don't know, but I doubt it. Simply compare how well the GOP has done in both 2016 and 2020 (even if Trump loses the presidency) vs. how poorly the GOP did with McCain and Romney. I don't think conservatives and others are all that attracted to the GOP of McCain and Romney. So I don't see how they'll be able to be relevant in the future if they're the same.

o. I suppose if Trump really wanted to run again, he could try in 2024. He would be 77-78, which is the same age as Biden is now. But who knows if even Trump and Trumpism will still be relevant in 2024.

In sum, I think GOP and conservatives may have lost the battle for the presidency, but they may be winning the war in general, or at worst holding their own. If it was Mixed Martial Arts, this election would've been a good fight and worthy of a rematch. The 2022 midterms look promising to me. All in all, I think it's pretty good news for the GOP and conservatives in general, even if it's disapppointing to have lost the presidency (if it is lost).