In a divided, partisan country, politically attached voters tend to accuse the opposition of lacking morals. Since President Bush, Democrats have continually accused Republican voters of being immoral, whether that be racist or bigoted. Republicans have been late to the game but now are playing hard-ball. Since Obama revolutionized politics in 2008, Republicans began their dangerous accusation efforts, which now have become equally as critical as the assertions coming from the opposite aisle. These assertions by both parties are false. More importantly, they are dangerous. In such a politically divided spectrum, the last thing we need as a country is a President who is showing the incapacity to demonstrate morality. However, here we are.
Long since Donald J. Trump was born, the framers of the Constitution always envisioned a gifted leader, serving and leading the executive branch. The general idea was trust in the people to know which presidential hopeful will lead America on the precarious path of preserving Democracy through proper leadership. If the people did fail, the framers brilliantly developed checks and balances to correct the mistake. However, they never truly worried that an individual so captivating could win a Presidency off lack of morals, and the thought of his accomplices blindly following was even further-fetched. The Constitution was not ready for Donald Trump.
Almost every president before Trump had leadership skills that could tap into morality whenever the country needed solidarity. Even notoriously unlikeable presidents were capable of doing this. In recent history, President George W. Bush was able to bring unity to America following the 9/11 attacks. His approval rating sky-rocketed, even among Democrats who vigorously resisted him just a month before. As Franklin D. Roosevelt said,
"The presidency is not merely an administrative office...It is pre-eminently a place of moral leadership."
A simple quote. Yet, so defining. It perfectly describes the failure of President Trump's presidency. He was never able to show morality. The evidence of this is grossly easy to find. The saddest part is research does not even have to go past the first page of a search engine to find the immoral statements this President has made this month.
However, last night was the most tone-deaf and horrific 46 minutes by a President in American History. As the country battles a profoundly infectious virus that is ravaging the country, the serving President of the United States stood on a podium and cried foul to the people of this country. What made this rant so chilling was "The U.S. recorded over 3,100 COVID-19 deaths in a single day, obliterating the record set last spring."
Trump did not mention the death toll. Instead, he aggressively shouted claims such as:
“If we don’t root out the tremendous and horrible fraud that’s taken place, then we don’t have a country anymore.”
“Our country cannot live with this kind of election.”
“It’s statistically impossible, that the person, me, that led the charge, lost.”
These quotes are false. Whether you believe there were voting irregularities or not, the quotes screamed by our serving President are unfounded. If voting fraud did transpire (it has yet to be uncovered), the number of occurrences would be exceedingly low. In most cases, the fraud would barely affect one small county's result, let alone an entire nationwide election.
The root of the election turning to Biden is exactly what was shown Wednesday night. President Trump, the GOP's heavenly leader is complaining about an election loss while 3,000 people are dying on his watch. His counterparts, whether it be in Congress or his administration, are silent. Not a word about the current Pandemic or the President's indefensible claims.
There was no "Blue Wave" in America. If a "Blue Wave" occurred Democrats would not have lost seats in Congress and disappointed in state legislators. The whole country just saw the obvious. President-elected Joe Biden had morales. The nation was so tired of the daily show President Trump would put on, whether it be holding Coronavirus Super-spreader Rallies or attacking Dr. Fauci for attempting to save lives and stop the spread of a virus infecting tens of thousands a day.
Some voters put up with it and voted on the conservative side for policies they viewed as important for the country. The voters were not immoral, GOP leadership was. Donald Trump was. The Republican-led Senate was. The White House Communications Department was. The Advisors to the President were. It does not take a genius to notice this. Yet, the Republican party is still infatuated with Donald J. Trump the showman, not the President. Senators on both aisles have had private discussions about how poorly skilled Trump is for the job. The glorified side of Trump is him the showman, both his loyal aides and close constituents in Congress admire his ability to dominate the media cycle.
However, the domination of the media-cycle is why he lost. There was no need to bash the coronavirus every day throughout the spring and early summer. America needed leadership, and it was found in Joe Biden, not our President. The Republican party needs to undergo soul-searching because as the rumors have begun swirling about a possible 2024 Trump run, they need to make
up their minds quickly. Will they buy into another four years of praising a man who is incapable of leading through crisis, as shown through 2020. Or will they go back to the party of values?
Time will tell. But expect another monotonous, middle-of-the-road Democratic candidate to run in 2024 if Donald Trump does indeed become the nominee because it's a guaranteed win after the whole country observed how Donald Trump leads through a crisis.
Democrats can also learn from this. The country voted for Joe Biden as the man, not the candidate. In the primaries, politicians like Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg were much more skilled. Yet, the voters chose Joe Biden. In the general election, Democrats lost seats in Congress. People are not very excited about the path of the Democrat's political trajectory, and that chose them to vote for Biden and either skip the down-ballot or vote for other parties. This should concern the DNC, because if the GOP does not bring back Trump, expect a Red Wave in 2024.