Rebuilding the Democratic Vision: Lessons from the 2024 Election 

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Reinforcing Ideas and New Ideas for Consideration 

I believe the mandate being used by Trump will backfire on him like it has done with past Presidents. In order to give you examples, I am going to use The Washington Post article by Jennifer Rubin from November 26, 2024, at 7:45 AM EST that is named, “Take it from Bush 43: Overreading a ‘Mandate’ Might doom Trump’s second term.” Here are the statements from this article: 

“Former congressman Matt Gaetz’s withdrawal from consideration for attorney general prompted much debate about whether President-elect Trump had overreached and underestimated the spine of Senate Republicans. It is not unusual for presidents to feel invincible and claim broad mandates after victory. However, voters choose the president for an array of reasons, so a mandate is a political fiction. In Trump’s case, many picked him specifically because they disbelieved his grandiose promises.” 

The Danger of Overreading a Mandate 

This article has an excellent point about not spending much time debating about a presidential mandate, since let’s look at what this kind of mandate was not supported since when a president oversteps then it will affect the president’s agenda that they want to pass. George W. Bush had a desire to develop a new plan for Social Security in 2004. It is important to understand how previous overreaches, like George W. Bush’s push for Social Security reform, can inform our approach to Trump’s presidency. 

“After winning reelection, Bush upon Social Security reform (partial privatization) as his major domestic initiative. The white house launched a huge initiative—to mobilize public opinion and build support for Social Security reform. Brooking Institution scholar William Galston wrote, Bush made it a centerpiece of his 2005 State of the Union address and then spent months traveling around the country to push it. However, neither Congress nor the public were interested. Despite a huge Senate majority (55-44) and a smaller House one, the effort stalled. Even with a popular vote margin and a Senate advantage far greater than Trump’s, Bush could not muscle through conservative ideologies’ pet project. He lost precious time, delayed getting to immigration reform, and wound up being consumed by Hurricane Katrina and the deteriorating state of the Iraq War.” 

What can we gain from this example. The public is seldom supportive of dramatic policy shifts. We all know Trump keeps talking about mass deportations. I don’t think Trump is aware that voters cast votes in 2024 for various reason. Here are some facts from exist poles, which show which issues are most prominent in voters minds: “foreign policy (4 percent), abortions (14 percent), the economy (32 percent), immigration (11 percent) and democracy (34 percent). When I see these percentages, I asked how people could vote for Trump since he is certainly not concerned with our democracy. He constantly talks about retaliation against his political enemies. He keeps talking about not cutting entitlements, and if he took action to do this, I believe he would be in serious trouble. Here is more Rubin talks about in her article: 

“What can trump claim as his mandate? Tariffs that don’t hit consumers (an impossibility)? Certainly, he does not feel obliged to respond to the 34 percent concerned about democracy. Even if many voters wanted a tougher immigration stance, many Republicans, including Hispanics, insist he doesn’t mean to round up hardworking people like them. Wanting a tougher immigration approach is a far cry from consenting to drag off law-abiding people, separate families and put employers out of business due to lack of workers. We should not conclude that Americans endorsed the most extreme and inhumane deportation plan imaginable. 

Republicans’ insistence that he will target 3 million to 4 million criminals vastly overstates that pool of people. If Trump goes beyond the actual population of deportable criminals (roughly 600,000) to round up Dreamers or revoke the temporary status of legal refugees, the reaction may be fierce. Even before the rollout of a specific plan, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) has slammed Trump’s pledge to deploy the military.” 

Economic Fallout of Mass Deportation 
The proposed deportation policies would not only devastate the labor force but also trigger significant economic consequences. 

Now, let us look at his billionaire backers. I think they may deal with him. The construction sector of our country employees about 1.5 million undocumented workers. This is 13 percent of their workforce. The proposed deportation would push up home prices, major labor shortages are named by the Guardian. “One economist told the New York Times that the ‘shock (of mass deportation) will cost trillions of dollars in economic growth, eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs held by U.S. natives.” 

The farmers are going to be in serious trouble since they will lose their pickers. I would be surprised if the Red State House and Senate members, who represent farmers, would not be alarmed. There are multiple articles about how food prices will go up, when farm labor shortages cause skyrocketing food prices.  

Rubin says, “no matter what mandate Trump thinks he has, the plan’s scope, the resulting visual images, the public reactions and the impact on the economy will determine whether he succeeds.” Let us go back to Trump’s first term where his immigration policy was to separate children from their parents, which proved disastrous. How many of us are willing to put up with that plan again? 

Part of the democratic process is as voters we can find ways to talk with our Republican counterparts or Democrats that voted for him and see what we can do. Buyer’s remorse is something any business owners has to consider, and how it can be prevented. The Senate has already taken a stance on one Trump recommendation, and how many more will they tolerate. Trump has promised a lot of things—he certainly never got Mexico to pay for “his wall.” 

How Could People Vote for Trump While Supporting Abortion Rights? 

I finally found some answers in the November 8, 2024, 7:01 AM, The New York Times newsletter by Lauren Kelly, “Women are Angry.”  

“Jill Filipovic writes in a guest essay, there is an explanation: ‘The positions of these voters are indeed incoherent. But they’re also reflective of the new political coalition Mr. Trump has built, and the kind of men and women who backed him.’ ‘A vote for abortion rights is not necessarily a vote for female autonomy or political power…Plenty of voters are willing to check a box if they think that will help keep women safe. But that doesn’t mean these voters are enthusiastic about unfettered female freedom—or even willing to put a woman in the White House.” 

What happened to the Women in this Election? 

Women across the U.S. were supposed to show up for Kamala Harris. It didn’t happen. Here is the information summarized from BBC News, Washington in Holly Hendrich’s article, “Democrats had bet on women showing up in force. They didn’t,” on November 8, 2024. 

Here is what happened. A majority of the women did vote for Harris; however, not by historic margines she needed. “If early exit polls bear out, Harris’s advantage among women overall-around 10 points-actually fell four points short of Joe Biden’s in 2020. Democrats suffered a 10 point drop among Latino women, while failing to move the needle among non-college educated women at all, who again went for Trump 63-35 preliminary data suggestions.” The shortfall is not for a lacking by Harris, since reproductive rights were at the cornerstone of her pitch.  

Abortion remains a popular topic and article after article show that “only one in 10 Americans thought it should be banned.” Here is the reality. Women who strongly support abortion are voting for Democrats. Democrats were not able to convince other women that it was a pressing issue. The issue which was most important to them was the economy.  

My next question was what Democrats need to do to gain support from more women. We have had major feminist movements in U.S. history. The Atlantic’s article by Xochitl Gonzalez on November 7, 2024, “What Can Women Do Now?’ gives information on how Trump won men over; however, I want to share with you what this article conveyed about the women in America. I want you to remember previous podcast I have provided you, since I give you the information on misinformation by Republicans and Musk to present false statements about Kamala Harris in ads. We know Trump’s Misogynist approach, which was amplified during his campaign. This approach attracted men voters.  

Listen to these facts from the article that can help you and I understand what happened to women: “Representative Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to run for president, wrote in 1970 that ‘women in America are much more brainwashed and content with their roles as second-class citizens than Black every were.’ This remains true today. No matter the number of marches women hold or memes they post online about sisterhood, many women are unswayed: 53 percent of white women (and a growing percentage of Latinas) voted for Trump. Women can enforce patriarchy just as well as men, as the ‘trad wives’ on the internet have demonstrated. “ 

I appreciate the new tactics this article brings to us. We cannot retreat, since our lives and futures depend on us taking action. Women are effective when we engage each other in respectful conversations. “We will continue to wage this fight in the voting booth, in the courts, and in the public square,” Harris said in her concession speech. She added, “we will also wage it in quieter ways.” 

Engaging Men and Changing Perceptions 

One of the suggestions was to start thanking the men in our lives who supported Harris. We need to thank them for trusting and respecting women. They believed that we could lead. Sadly, millions of men do not feel that way, so it is important for us to encourage those that do believe in women’s abilities to lead. 

I have friends that need to talk with their young men and boys. It is a challenge many times, since you cannot control what they are hearing or reading on the internet. We need to find ways to have conversation with them and counterprogramming that is happening with our young men in our country. 

It is also time for each of us women to talk with our friends who voted for Trump. We have cousins, fathers, colleagues and friends who voted for him. We need to discuss what is happening to women’s lives and what our values are that make us so valuable to our country. We need to ask the help of men who voted for Harris. This article’s significant statement about fewer Black men than Latino men drifted toward Trump. African American women told me that months leading up to the election, on social media and in private conversations as well as at church, Black people talked honestly about the importance of valuing women. They talked about discussions they had about female leadership. They told stories of Black female leaders. African Americans know how to change molded minds that have been affected by the internet. Conversations do make a difference. Harris reminded us, “You have power.”  

This article ends with this comment: “Despite what many say, the modern women doesn’t need a man. But women’s lives can certainly be improved by men not hating them.” 

The Complexity of Immigrant Voting Patterns 

A short article from Time Magazine by Basel Touchan on November 22, 2024, 9:08 AM EST, “Democrats Need a New Immigrant Playbook,” have some excellent comments. First, as Democrats, we need to realize that immigrants voting patterns are much more complex than we realized. The reality is that immigrants often hold more socially conservative views. Some may find it hard to make drastic structural changes. We forget they left their homes, jobs, and friends to seek out what they consider a better future for themselves and their children when they came to the U.S.  

This article present this idea—“For many immigrants, voting for Donald Trump and the Republican Party represented a focus on issues like inflation, the economy, and education—priorities that, to many immigrant voters, seemed like the safer choice.”  

We must accept that many immigrants are more conservative than we thought. Here is an example: “in Allentown, PA, which has one of the largest Syrian communities in the U.S. and a Hispanic population of 54.3%, the Democratic margin dropped by 18 points from 2016 to 2024. Similar patterns appeared in Lawrence, MA (80% Latino), where Democratic support fell by double digits compared to 2020, and in Starr County, TX (97% Hispanic), where Republicans won for the first time since 1896.” 

Even though Trump had very negative immigrant comments, immigrants voted for him. “The answer is that immigrants and minorities, particularly working-class ones, are unhappy with the economy and much else.  Whether they are from Mexico, Honduras, or Guatemala, if they are Christian, Muslim, or Hindu, many felt the Republican’s message of self-reliance, economic opportunity, and traditional values aligned more closely with their vision of the future.” 

“Take the border issue, for example. The conventional wisdom is that immigrants—particularly Latino ones—would put off by Trump’s border bluster. But an October New York/Siena College poll found that 67% of U.S.-born and 51% of foreign-born Latino respondents didn’t feel that Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric was directed at them.” 

“’Some immigrants also actively distance themselves from newly arrived migrants, seeking to assimilate as ‘true Americans.’ They share concerns that unchecked immigrants could stoke anti-immigrant sentiment, even if they think it won’t be directed at them, as the New York. Siena College poll suggests.  

Many are on “work visas, who work high-paying jobs, pay taxes and own homes, yet still lack a path to citizenship.” They see the U.S. immigration system as unfair. Those are stuck in years-long asylum cases, live each day not knowing what is going to happen to them. Some see border crossings as “cutting in line.” Sadly, immigrants have had the experience with this broken system and others they love are having difficulties navigating through the U.S. immigration system.  

I will speak more about how to win with Latinos in the next podcast, since I found another article that gives even more detail about the actions that Democrats can take from a Latino Democrat who won in a state that voted for Trump. 

The Challenges Ahead of Us 

The coming years will test America’s ability to maintain decency and empathy amid growing divisions. Trump and the Republican Party will test us. Can we maintain and develop respect for each other through conversations rather than investing in apathy, anger, and allowing violence to be the norm? Our country has been in a place many times where we have been pushed to the brink, and yet we survived those challenges. The New York Times newsletter on November 7, 2024, 7:06 AM by Laura Reston in “Opinion Today: What this means for America,” quotes their editorial board, “’We are a nation that has always emerged from a crucible with its ideals intact and often toughened and sharpened.” For now, America has made its choice—decisively, if narrowly. We know who will lead us through this closing chapter of our first 250 years as a nation. But if history has taught us anything, it is that the next chapter is where the real story begins.” 

Conclusion 

The 2024 election has provided a stark reality check for Democrats, highlighting areas where our assumptions failed and where new approaches are urgently needed. Moving forward, we must embrace nuanced strategies to engage with diverse voter groups, address economic concerns, and counter the spread of misinformation. The path to rebuilding the Democratic Party’s vision requires courage, adaptability, and meaningful conversations across divides. While the challenges ahead may seem insurmountable, history shows that America’s strength lies in its ability to persevere and emerge stronger. Let’s commit to being part of that story. 

References for Podcast 109:

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