No, Americans did not vote for fascism

The post mortem continues, with the Inquirer headlining, in the print edition, a story , “Why voters rejected Dems’ fascism warnings.”

I’ll summarize the story this way: Voters cared more about the economy than democracy.

That’s the Inquirer’s take, speaking for hard Left, Democratic bed-wetters.

Mine is that the majority of Americans never bought the “fascist” argument, despite it originating with Donald J. Trump’s chief of staff.

Nor did they buy Trump’s joking declaration that he would become a dictator on “day one,” because they know he meant only on day one. His opponents tried to make it read “starting on day one.”

The deeper the belief and trust (yes, trust) in Trump, the more that voter might be thinking, “Yeah, we are in such deep doo-doo, maybe we need a dictator to get out of it.”

I know a few MAGA heads who would say that, and half believe it. Ideology blinds you to reality.

The key issues in the campaign were the economy and inflation, followed closely by immigration.

Democrats banked a lot on abortion, which surprisingly was not an explosive issue, as it was in 2022. Two things: I think Democrats acted on the notion that abortion was a unifying issue among all women. They forgot that one-third of women approve of abortion only in certain circumstances.

That’s Gallup’s polling. My own opinion is that most people understand that abortion is still available, even if you have to travel one or two states away, which is burdensome, yes. Only 13 states ban abortion.

I understand many Democrats see abortion on demand as a Constitutional right, but that’s not where the majority of Americans are.

The key reason — not the only reason — the Dems got swamped was the truism first articulated by strategist James Carville for the 1992 Bill Clinton campaign: It’s the economy, stupid.

It still is.

Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris failed to convince voters otherwise, and they seemed tone deaf when they tried to peddle Bidenomics. It was a failed strategy.

The truth is the U.S. economy is in good shape, compared to other Western economies. But Americans live here. When gas costs more than $4 here, Americans don’t care that it costs even more in Europe.

The Democrats did not have a good answer as to why eggs and butter remained high, even when the inflation rate had been cut by more than half.

Given that 72% of Americans felt that the U.S. was on the wrong track, and Kamala was part of the administration, she put up a really good fight against Trump, who was unpopular even among many in the majority who voted for him — not because of fascism, but because of his big, dumb mouth that makes so many cringe worthy remarks.

But with that said, like it or not, he is the most powerful politician in America, Trumpism is alive and well.

As I’ve said before, I am a disloyal Democrat. Disloyal because the party has moved too far to the Left.

Look — a loyal Democrat like David Axelrod says the party has become the party of “smarty pants suburban elites,” and former Marxist Van Jones says Dems were “idiots,” and Ritchie Torres, the congressman who represents the deep blue district in the Bronx where I was born, nails it like this, maybe I should be disloyal.

In the closing days of the campaign, Democrats claimed to have knocked on 2 million doors in swing states.

I have always questioned the effectiveness of door-knocking. 

The Dems had a massive operation, the Republicans barely did, and who won?

As a reporter, I have accompanied candidates door-knocking, handing out leaflets, and asking for votes.

The overwhelming majority of people smile, listen, and take the literature. Many promise to vote for the candidate. Some will, the rest just want the door-knocker to go away. They don’t want an argument or a debate on their doorstep.

The only people who welcome the door-knockers are shut-ins, the lonely elderly, and those spoiling for a political argument, which door-knockers are instructed to avoid.

I talked earlier about as you travel Right among Republican voters, the adhesive to Trump gets stronger.

As you travel farther Left, the belief is — even today — the remedy is to go even more Left.

Ideology blinds you to reality.