Right in the centre - How the U.S. election was lost

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Published on Thursday, November 14, 2024

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

In my column just prior to the US election, I outlined why, if Trump were to win, why that would take place. That column was in no way meant to be an endorsement of Donald Trump. I said was, “if Donald Trump is elected, it will be because people are sick of the stands taken by the Democrats who are shamelessly backed by the majority of the media and the entertainment industry.”

With the majority win by Trump, the people who operate and who back the Democratic Party are in shock and mourning about their defeat. When all the mistakes come out in full view, the Dems should not be surprised. Here are some reasons why their shock is misplaced.

Most of Kamala Harris’ previous election campaign experience was in California, a place where the majority of people think like she does. She was not battle-hardened. Without that “battle” experience, Harris did not get a high level of comfort and experience with handling media interviews. She was invisible for much of the campaign and it left voters not knowing who she was and what she believed.

She refused to illustrate how she would do things differently than Joe Biden. That and the fact that it’s very difficult to be an incumbent and claim you are going to make big and needed changes. People asked the obvious question and that was “Why didn’t you change things when you had the chance?”

The loss wasn’t due to a shortage of money as Harris backers raised $1billion and spent it all and then some in 107 days. I think that’s about $10 million a day.

The Democratic Party went way into the ditch by waiting so long to “retire” Joe Biden. It was obvious to all that time had caught up to Joe Biden at age 80 or so, how could they be surprised. Even now, at times, Biden speaks well but many times he doesn’t and it’s sad.

I have said many times, and written it a few times, that if Joe Biden and Donald Trump are the best that the Americans can come up with for president, the country is in big trouble. I also wrote that the parties should find a black female lawyer and set them up as candidates for the task of US president. The Democrats did that but a chosen young black female lawyer needed to also do and say the things that people need to hear from their president and Harris clearly didn’t do that. Harris insulted Trump and Trump insulted her but Trump said what he intends to do in easier to understand language than Harris was willing or able to do. Trump picked a young and vibrant VP candidate, some would say JD Vance is a handsome guy. Harris picked an old looking 60 year old man, Tim Walls, who unfortunately looked as worn out as Joe Biden.

Trump made wild and outlandish promises but they were about issues the public wanted to hear, the economy, energy self-sufficiency, border and immigration control. Harris talked about social issues that while, people care about them, they are not issues that put food on the table and clothes on kids backs.

After the election was over, Independent Senator Bernie Sanders said two basic things. One, the Dems appeared to abandon the working class in favour of suburban, university educated people and US election laws allow the very rich to finance the elections. In contrast, in Canada, political donations to a party are limited to individuals, not businesses, and I believe the limit in Canada is only $1,750 per person.

What Canadians also need to be aware of is how Trump decisions will affect Canada. Lots to watch for.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the writer’s personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the newspaper staff.