An election decided by no-shows, the undecided, and the easily swayed...
Many would agree the past election was portentous. Gender was on the ballot this year and masculinity won. Race and bigotry were also there and they won big. The rest of us popped corks or cried in our beers— unaware that none of us was a winner this time around. Trump is the embodiment of an American fantasy that we are different from the rest of the world. In many respects, we are better than some, no worse than others. American exceptionalism has always been a matter of perspective. In this case, there were only losers and America's reputation both here and abroad has undergone its most damning defeat since the Civil War. Trump showed us just how unexceptional we can be. We have been here before.
Sing along with me…
The Eastern world, it is explodin'
Violence flarin', bullets loadin'
You're old enough to kill but not for votin'
You don't believe in war, but what's that gun you're totin'?
And even the Jordan river has bodies floatin'
For those of us who feel we have reached bottom as a nation, it is good to remind ourselves that we are treading water as a species. Barry McGuire and a disaffected generation in the 1960s felt as many of us feel today. The Vietnam War combined with Richard Nixon who won with only 43% of the popular vote made us believe we truly were on the eve of destruction. It was an election in which George Wallace and Curtis LeMay took 13% of the vote. America was reeling. It was a time of assassinations of public officials. There were riots in the streets of many of our cities. The times were perilous and many of us found ourselves questioning our democratic institutions. We are entering a moment in time when our future is in doubt. For those of us who lived through those earlier times, we are girded by experience. “Thus it has been, and thus is now,” we think. The message is even found in the good book:
Ecclesiastes 1:9,10
The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun…
The narrow victory by Donald Trump suggests he is neither something new nor an anomaly. Each new iteration of our American experiment suggests a biblical edit. We are trapped within a circle of “who we are” vs. “who we aspire to be,” and whether you are a believer or a skeptic, history is generally written in solemn prose, not poetry. We are sometimes exceptional but we are not exempt from history’s assessment when we are not. This is one of those times. After all, others have been here before:
Yeah, my blood's so mad, feels like coagulatin'
I'm sittin' here just contemplatin'
I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation
Handful of senators don't pass legislation
And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegratin'
This whole crazy world is just too frustratin'— Barry McGuire, The Eve of Destruction, songwriter, P.F. Sloan (1965)
There is little comfort in knowing our frustrations are not unique. We have been here before. Sure, the near future is dark and there is even less comfort in knowing that Trump’s victory was among the narrowest in electoral history. Our invention of the Electoral College distorts even that minor bright spot. Politics is, after all, an expression of the taming of human nature. The will of majorities dominates until the next election. The problem of late for both Democrats and Republicans is that neither party defines a true majority— there is a third party afoot, an impatient collection of no-shows, the undecided, and the easily swayed— some of whom reside within the parties. These are the voters whose allegiance is to fleeting passion. According to The Poynter Institute, the country is currently ruled by impermanence:
So far this century, elections have been not only close, but have flipped back and forth between the parties. Since 2000, control of the presidency, the Senate or the House has flipped 16 times in 13 election cycles.
If this pattern holds, the Democrats could be well positioned for the 2026 midterms and perhaps the 2028 presidential race.
— PolitiFact, “How big was Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory? 8 charts explain,” by Louis Jacobson
Enough of the same voters who embraced Barack Obama and Joe Biden decided that Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris were too risky to overcome the bumptious campaigns of an openly misogynist Mr. Trump. In both elections involving women and Trump, the “flip” included giving the winner both houses of Congress.
The party of The Easily Swayed is not unlike their German counterparts who supported the demagoguery of Hitler even if it meant genocide and renunciation of its Christian values. The tune goes on, and their values be damned.
As far back as the Shakespearean times we are reminded of the constancy of our human plight. “What's past is prologue” is as true and as ominous today as when Antonio suggested his murderous plot to Sebastian in The Tempest.
But maybe this time is different. Maybe history, instead of repeating itself, has opened a new chapter. Maybe the past events were simply warnings we should take to heart. Hum the tune if you have forgotten the words. Listen for the drumbeats:
...The poundin' of the drums, the pride and disgrace
…Hate your next door neighbor but don't forget to say grace…
And tell me over and over and over and over again, my friend
You don't believe we're on the eve of destruction.
If only the no-shows, undecideds, and easily swayed had listened to ‘60s protest music...