I can’t take all the credit

Embed from Getty Images

I was feeling a bit self-conscious, and perhaps unrealistic, at attributing credit for Trump’s remarkable comeback victory to the many blogs I wrote for this esteemed publication. But then I heard Ben Shapiro claim that the election was decided at the moment that he stood with Trump at the grave of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory.

The nerve! Even if it was intended as a joke, an irresponsible assertion of that nature diminishes the achievement of people like me, who labored so assiduously and authored so many syllables to bring the truth to the people. I must admit that I myself, notwithstanding my healthy ego, was a bit surprised at my effectiveness. Who knew that so many young African-American men, Latinos, evangelicals, and union members read my Times of Israel blog? Surprising, and also humbling.

In the future, I will approach my blog-writing with a new sense of mission, obligation and responsibility, as befits one with that level of impact on the national and international scene. And Times of Israel–take a well-deserved bow.

Like Trump, I humbly (and probably somewhat more sincerely) give all the credit to God. And deny any credit to Ben Shapiro and the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Well, maybe a little to the Lubavitcher Rebbe. One should not lightly dismiss his assistance. One never knows when it might be needed.

If you think that it might be presumptuous or silly for me to be taking credit for Trump’s victory, just look at all of the other explanations being offered by the media. They make my claim look positively cautious and understated.

Juan Williams attributed Trump’s win to racists, transphobes, and misogynists who could not countenance a victory by a woman of color. Lawrence O’Donnell blamed the Electoral College, i.e., the Constitution of the United States and the Founding Fathers. Joy Reid blamed white men. Many commentators faulted Joe Biden for being unpopular and old, for getting out of the race, for not getting out of the race soon enough, or for failing to keep even half of his wits about him. Haaretz blamed Bibi Netanyahu, because they just can’t help themselves.

A handful of analysts blamed Kamala Harris for her many deficiencies, including, inter alia:

 (1) picking Tim Walz over Josh Shapiro (though racists and misogynists weren’t likely to vote for a Jew in any event, unless they happened to be from Pennsylvania);

(2) running an issues-free campaign and focusing exclusively on the fact that she was not Donald Trump or Joe Biden (admittedly hard to see anything wrong with that approach);

(3) choosing Doug Emhoff–whom The Jerusalem Post designated the most influential Jew in the whole, entire world; talk about a short-lived gig–to head her Jewish outreach and posturing him as the new male paradigm (if you can get past the nanny-impregnating and alleged girlfriend-slapping stuff);

(4) reversing every single substantive policy position she ever held (most notably, fracking, a border wall, and gun control) and hoping that no one would suspect that she might be insincere;

(5) running anti-Palestinian TV ads in Pennsylvania and anti-Israel ads in Michigan, and not realizing that people might notice the hypocrisy;

(6) her refusal or inability to anticipate or answer predictable questions directly;

(7) not effectively separating herself from the border crisis that resulted in 10,000,000 illegal immigrants during her 3-½ year tenure, yet claiming that she was tough on immigration;

(8) her association with soft-on-crime policies as Attorney General of California;

(9) her offer to assist in raising bail for Minneapolis rioters;

(10) acceding to the nomination without ever receiving a single vote in a primary;

(11) being unburdened with anything resembling coherence or intelligibility;

(12) not having any plan to deal with the economy other than price controls and restricting price gouging during hurricanes.

(13) lying about Joe Biden’s mental incapacity.

(14) calling Trump and his supporters Nazis and fascists, and failing to disown Biden’s description of them as “garbage”;

(15) saying that she represented a “new page,” but being unable to identify a single Biden/Harris policy she would change;

(16) offending Catholic voters by failing to attend the Al Smith dinner;

(17) cackling.                                        

Given all that, one must give her credit for coming as close as she did.  But then, after all, she was indeed not Donald Trump.  That was her strongest argument.

And abortion.  Abortion.  Abortion.  Abortion.  I mean women’s reproductive health.  Turns out even that was not enough to get her past the finish line.

The reality is that she lost, and Trump won, because he, despite his manifest and multiple deficiencies, ran an issues-based campaign focused on subjects that mattered to a dissatisfied electorate.  Voters were angry about unchecked unlawful immigration; about crime in the streets and stores; about high prices and profligate government spending; about boys in girls’ sports, locker rooms, and restrooms; about woke environmental madness and mandates; and about a mindless and feckless foreign policy, whose only hallmark was weakness and unpredictability, the two most reliable indicators of failure.  Yes, Trump delivered his message in his inimitably boorish, vulgar, coarse, tasteless, repellent, and often unintelligible manner, but at least there was a message underneath it all, one that appears to have resonated with a profoundly unhappy electorate to which he related remarkably well.

He worked at a McDonald’s, he wore the uniform of a garbageman, he held up his fist in defiance when he was shot, he endured ridiculous impeachment charades, political prosecutions, and unconscionable press bias.  She temporized, equivocated, and cackled.

It was no contest.

We should have seen it coming.  What can you expect from more than 71 million racists, misogynists, and transphobic fascists, especially when the Rebbe is helping? 

And never underestimate the power of a persuasive blog.