By Mildred Robertson
Well, 2024 has been a year. What started out as a year when left-wing politics appeared poised to take hold, we instead encountered a public that was sour on politics. While public reasoning, or lack thereof, may give you pause...many people viewed the four years under the Trump administration with longing.
While numbers told us that President Biden's administration had done a good job of pulling us out of the COVID depression, our pocketbooks and bank accounts told us differently. The economy added more than 1 million jobs in the first three years of his administration. That is 4.9 million higher than BEFORE the pandemic. Unemployment dropped dramatically, almost reaching pre-pandemic lows. America boasted more jobs than job seekers. The nation's economy expanded by 2.5% in 2023, marking the third straight year of economic growth. The year 2023 showed a decrease in crime and the S&P increased 28.2%. Crude oil production increased 12.7%. More people had health insurance in 2023, and Obamacare enrollment was at record highs. Fewer people were on food stamps and gun purchases declined.
History will probably record Biden among Americas most significant and impactful presidents. But that's not what the American public responded to when they entered the ballot box on November 5th. They saw rising inflation and higher gas prices. The real buying power of the average American declined by 3.4%, even with the expanding economy. So, despite America's rising economic tide, most Americans felt they were sinking below it.
So, as we examine the outcome of the 2024 election, it may be obvious to many how a clearly flawed nominee defeated a highly qualified candidate with both experience and a plan to use it. In the famed words of political strategist James Carville, "It's the economy, stupid."
As Americans wrestled with how to make ends meet, their focus turned inward. Trump promised to expel immigrants whom he charged stole jobs from deserving Americans and used up valuable resources. He said he would close the borders to immigrants and goods and services made abroad. He declared crime was rampant in America, and he would crush it. He said that America has been taken advantage of on the world stage and talked about increasing America's power through imperialistic takeovers of sovereign nations.
While Trump's rhetoric is inaccurate, many Americans were comfortable with blaming those whom they have otherized for their economic instability. The economic climate is clearly improving and will likely afford Trump a robust economy come spring—an economy fashioned by his predecessor, an economy in which he will reap where he has not sown. His threats toward our northern and southern neighbors will end in the same embarrassment faced when Mexico DID NOT build the wall. But that is the nature of politics.
So, while many of those who wished for a different outcome to the year 2024 lick their wounds, and turn off MSNBC and CNN, the world marches on. Trump is the rightfully elected president of the United States of America. As perverse as that is, it is a fact. That is why the 50 percent of Americans who do not endorse the current turn of events must get back in the game.
Many challenges lay before this nation in 2025. Numerous vital decisions must be made in the next four years, with only a weakened Congress and court system to make them. Our democracy is in jeopardy, and someone must champion its cause.
For those who love this country and mourn democracy's loss, it is time to discard the sackcloth and ashes. It is time to strategize, to commit, to work. In the words of my friend Glenn Newkirk, "adapt and resist."
Be the champion! It is time!
