Postmortem

Please don’t take this as a partisan diatribe; as you read, I hope you’ll see it’s not. But millions of Americans, as well as untold numbers of people throughout the world, were stunned by the result of the 2024 Presidential election. Some talk about having to go through the stages of grief. For some, there was a short period of grief, and now there’s just ordinary, though significant, disappointment.

But life goes on.

When we are ready (each in our own time), we should try to learn the lessons of this election. What can we learn from listening to the voters who turned out for Trump? What did they see, or fail to see, in the messaging of his opponents that caused them to turn away? What needs and aspirations of theirs are not being met, and how can both parties do a better job of meeting them?

I truly believe that Harris, Walz and other Democratic leaders very much wanted to elevate the working class, but for some reasons that their party needs to figure out, their message wasn’t heard. Of course, there may be other factors at play, including misogyny, racism, xenophobia, disinformation, educational and religious differences, foreign wars, and the tragic brevity of Harris’ campaign. But we’ve seen what I can only describe as a historic disconnect between the impressions of the voters and the intentions of the Democratic politicians. Democrats need to own their rightful share of the responsibility for letting this one slip away.

At bottom, the majority of voters supported Trump, and he will once again become our duly elected President. Undoubtedly many Americans have suffered during the Biden Presidency (some despite his best efforts) and I fear that multiples more may suffer under the second Trump Administration. The challenges for all Americans remain how we move the nation forward while preventing and limiting that suffering, and how to bring comfort and healing to those bending under suffering’s weight.

For that, we need to turn not only to government, but also to nonprofits, charities, religious organizations, colleges and universities, think tanks, and Americans of goodwill at all economic and educational levels and inhabiting a host of occupations. The learning and efforts need to come not only from the top down but also from the bottom up. They will require that members of all groups listen to each other with open minds and open hearts, a herculean feat in light of our enormous divisions.

There is much work ahead to help America achieve its promise. In the end, it comes down to how we can, together, do the most good for the largest number of people, while not forgetting those on the margins, not only within our borders but throughout the world. Those should always be our highest, if most elusive, goals.