Why did the democrats lose the 2024 election?

Editor’s note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com

By Tibebe Samuel Ferenji 

It isn’t immigration or the economy stupid!

The American election cycle is over and the “talking heads” are telling us that “Americans voted for their pocketbook” in propelling not only Donald J. Trump but also the Republican party to control the Senate, probably the house. There is no question that this election is historic in so many ways. The Republican party was able to galvanize support from the unlikely electorate that included Arabs, Muslims, Jewish, Asian, Christian, Latino and African Diaspora community that voted for the democratic party for many years. These voters came together in this election more than at any time in recent memory of American history.

The democratic party and the mainstream media got it so wrong that the 2024 election result was not even close. Trump won not only the electoral college vote but the popular vote as well to clinch his second term of the US presidency. The democrats and the mainstream media failed to see the warning sign and the democratic party took the “traditionally voting block” for granted which resulted in total annihilation. It is the opinion of this writer that Kamala Harris and the democrats did not lose the election because Vice President Harris had only 107 days to campaign; the democrats lost because they were not listening to the people’s voice and concerns. 

The democrats should have learned from the 2021 Commonwealth of Virginia governor’s race and change their approach to address the LGBTQI+ community issues. In 2021 Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin, who was unknown to anyone at that time, won because many parents in Virginia were unhappy with the way the schools were run by democrats. Most parents opposed the government’s attempt to shove the LGBTQI+ issue into their children’s throats. Parents filled schools meeting arena to sound the alarm in hope of finding officials that could address their concerns to no avail. Most parents did not care about what people do in the confinement of their homes and bedrooms, and do not support discrimination based on sexual orientations; but they do not want their children to be forced to learn “alternative lifestyle” and “gender transformation.” Since 2021, Seven states passed LGBTQI+ inclusive curriculum standards laws that set a standard for locally created academic curriculum to include affirming representation of LGBTQI+ people in K-12 schools. As a result, beneath the surface, anger was boiling in every traditionally democratic voting block community, and that anger turned into votes that brought the Republican governor of Virginia to power. This should have been a big warning sign to democrats; many were hoping that the democratic party would approach the LGBTQI+ issues in a responsible manner. Instead of changing the approach, the democratic party ignored its constituency and paid the price in the 2024 election.

You do not need to be an expert to know that many of the democrats voting block constituency is vehemently opposed and unwilling to accommodate any politician or advocacy group that wants to teach their children about the “same sex marriage” or “sex change”. However, the politicians who have been more concerned about being politically correct have been willing to accommodate one part of their constituency instead of addressing the concern of the majority of the constituency. The Democratic Party ignored all the warning signs and continued to operate business as usual. Moreover, beyond its borders, the United States government has been trying to push the “LGBTQI+ agenda” particularly in African countries. Many African leaders were threatened with sanction unless they accommodate the LGBTQI+ community in their country. America’s effort did not only anger many African leaders but also the African Diaspora. Most Africans believe the US is pushing what they consider to be “the Western Culture” to be imposed in their home countries challenging their conservative culture and eroding their religious beliefs. Many African countries not only refused to accommodate the United States but took stricter measures in defiance of the United States and its allies on this particular issue. Some African countries enacted harsher laws to punish those who want to engage in LGBTQI+ “lifestyle” and those who intend to push this issue into the larger society. 

It is not a secret that the major world religions oppose homosexuality; African American community Pastors have warned democrats for many years not to push the LGBTQI+ agenda. They have indicated in a clear message that God intended marriage to be between “Steve and Eve not Dave and Steve.” But the democrats ignored this important constituency believing that they will always vote for democrats no matter what. Instead of listening to the heartbeat of the majority, the democrats continue to push the LGBTQI+ agenda and make schools targets to promote what is dubbed “an alternative lifestyle” since 2021. Most Americans have no problem protecting the rights of the LGBTQI+ community. In fact, according to USA Today, November 7, 2024, report “voters in several states passed specific protections for abortion and LGBTQI+ rights. Others elected officials from communities traditionally underrepresented in government, including the first-ever trans person to be elected to Congress. However, changing the school curriculums to push the LGBTQI+ agenda did not sit well with the American people. Many shared their concerns on various Social Media platforms. Instead of listening and adjusting to the concern of parents, the democrats continue to push back as if to say, “we know better for your children than you do.” As I have indicated previously, most people do not care what people do in their homes; but, when politicians push an agenda that erodes the value that parents teach their children, it is natural to react and reject these politicians. Given the democratic party unwavering loyalty to the LGBTQI+ community and its extraordinary effort to promote the LGBTQI+ agenda in public schools have cost the democrats the 2024 election. 

There is no surprise that Muslims, Christians, and Jews stood together in electing Trump despite his incompetence, arrogance, criminal conviction, and his dangerous rhetoric. Vice President Harris tried to galvanize support using the “Democracy and abortion” issues as a winning platform instead of listening to parent’s concern and watching the warning signs of the major religions. The democrat’s failure to correctly read their constituency have propelled not only Trump but also the republican party to power. The Republicans now have a larger margin in controlling the Senate and they are on their way to control the house. If that happens, there will be no guardrail to stop Trump and the Republican party to do what they want on various issues. 

Most people understand that Trump is a danger for democracy, but voters believed the democrats agenda put their children in more danger than Trump’s dictatorial traits. Although Abortion is a concern for many Americans, it was not a higher priority than defeating the LGBTQI+ agenda strongly pushed in public schools by the democratic party. For example, in Florida there was an abortion rights amendment as part of the 2024 election ballot. Although it failed because it did not reach the required 60% threshold to pass the measure, 57% of voters in Florida voted yes for the Amendment, yet Trump won Florida with 56.1%. This is an indication that people who are pro choice still voted for Trump instead of Harris. 

In this election, we also witnessed extraordinary events in Michigan and many other States where the majority of Muslims reside with the exception of Minnesota. The Imams in Michigan endorsed Trump and called him a “candidate for peace”. According to one of the Imams, they agreed with the Trump team on five points. Two of the fives are to end the war in Gaza and stop the LGBTQI+ issue in public schools. It is this writer’s Opinion, that the four points that the Michigan Imams mentioned to the Trump team were just masks because the other four points are, points that Trump stands in the opposite of the Imams. Trump, a man who said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is doing “a good job” prosecuting the war in Gaza and that Biden is “restricting Netanyahu to do what needs to be done” is not a candidate of peace. This is a man who promised to deport pro Palestinians from the US and vowed to reinstate the Alien Act of 1798. The Alien Enemies Act specifically allows the president to detain, relocate, or deport non-citizens from a country considered an enemy of the U.S. during wartime. If you think Trump wants to invoke this act simply to deport undocumented aliens, be ready for a rude awakening. 

It is not long ago that Republicans in congress entertain the idea of deporting pro-Palestinian protesters at the height of the protest in various college campuses in opposition to war in Gaza. These are the people who were willing to desecrate the constitution of the United States hoping to stop the Israeli government’s opponents. Now these same people have controlled the entire branch of the US government. Calling the Republican Party leader “a man of peace” is an oxymoron and a cruel joke that is devoid of reality and facts on the ground. This is Trump’s second term. It is not like he does not have a record that can be compared with the promises he is making. We all have witnessed when Trump dropped what is known as “the Mother of All Bombs” in Afghanistan in April 2017. How did the Muslim and Arab community forget that Trump is the first US president that recognized Jerusalem as a Capital of Israel and moved US’s embassy to Jerusalem despite the fact the United Nations considers East Jerusalem to be part of Israeli-occupied territories or occupied Palestinian territory. 

Moreover, Trump has been itching to bomb Iran during his first term. What makes them think that he will not do it this time around? This is not a mystery to the Imams and the Muslim and Arab Community. Despite his previous records and what he said in the campaign trail, to say Trump is “a candidate for peace” is self-defeating and delusional. Vice President Harris tried to galvanize support using the “Democracy and abortion” issues. 

The Asians, Africans, Latino, Arab, and other communities’ conservative values and religion has played a significant role as part of voters’ decision that caused democrats to lose the 2024 election. The democrats did not just lose, they lost in a landslide. This is not to say that immigration and the economy was not the issue for many democrats voting block that turned to Trump; however, these issues were not the turning point. There are some who stated that it is because of the economy and immigration that they voted for Trump. Looking at Trump’s record on the economy however, this is hard to believe. Some people hide their true feelings about LGBTQI+ because they do not want to be labeled as anti LGBTQI+. Examining Trump’s economic record, it would be difficult to believe that Trump would turn the economy around. First of all, the Biden administration has lowered unemployment from that of Trump’s presidency. The unemployment rate during Joe Biden’s presidency has changed from 6.4% (which he inherited from Trump) to 4.1%, a decrease of 35.9% as of September 2024.

When Trump took office from Barack Obama the US unemployment rate was 4.7% and when Trump left office the unemployment rate was 6.4%. Some people may think the reason for the economic problem was COVID 19, however, according to  Eugene Kiely, Director of Fact Check “the U.S. economy was slowing down even before the pandemic. The U.S. added less than 2 million jobs in 2019 — the lowest annual growth since 2010”.   According to Factcheck.org Trump’s first term economic record summary is as follows:

“The economy lost 2.7 million jobs. The unemployment rate increased by 1.7 percentage points to 6.4%. Paychecks grew faster than inflation. Average weekly earnings for all workers were up 8.4% after inflation. After-tax corporate profits went up, and the stock market set new records. The S&P 500 index rose 67.8%. The international trade deficit Trump promised to reduce went up. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services in 2020 was the highest since 2008 and increased 36.3% from 2016. The number of people lacking health insurance rose by 3 million. The federal debt held by the public went up, from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion. Home prices rose 27.5%, and the homeownership rate increased 2.1 percentage points to 65.8%. Illegal immigration increased. Apprehensions at the Southwest border rose 14.7% last year compared with 2016. Coal production declined 26.5%, and coal-mining jobs dropped by 25%. Carbon emissions from energy consumption dropped 11.3%. Handgun production rose 12.5% last year compared with 2016, setting a new record. The murder rate last year rose to the highest level since 1997. Trump filled one-third of the Supreme Court, nearly 30% of the appellate court seats and a quarter of District Court seats” emphasis added. 

Thus, the facts do not support the pocketbook issue as a primary concern of democrat voters who voted for Trump this time around. Most people voted on one issue instead of looking at the whole package that affects their lives. Moreover, most voters failed to understand that schools are administered by the States not by the Federal government and Trump will not be able to do much to change the school administration policies. Before the election, Mark Penn, a former pollster for Bill Clinton, cautioned that the 2024 presidential election could be decided by an “uninformed electorate” operating on “vibes” rather than substantive policy differences between candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.” He was not wrong. This writer has lived in the United States for more than 42 years and has never witnessed such a political crisis in the United States. He is not eligible to vote and has no say in the US election other than encouraging those who are eligible to vote to arm themselves with information before voting. We have witnessed the crisis not only in the US but in the world during Trump’s first term. Well, my friends, be ready for Trump’s second term by fastening your “seatbelt” tight. As the saying goes “you broke it you buy it.”  

Editor’s note : Views in the article do not necessarily reflect the views of borkena.com

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