Moving Forward Together: What the 2024 Election Can Teach Us
Exploring key election takeaways in a fresh format with charts, quotes, and video insights
A week out from a surprising result — who among you really thought Trump would win by a decisive margin in the electoral college, much less take a majority of the popular vote? — we’re going to look at lessons learned in today's TL;dr. What happened in the election — and why — should have significant impacts on governing in coming months and years. The most important lesson learned is this: Stop assuming the worst about voters, i.e., your fellow citizens. Remember, despite our different opinions on how to move the country forward, we’re all in this together.
We’re experimenting with a new format in today’s TL;dr newsletter. You’ll see more charts, quotes and videos. What won’t change is my desire to share what I think are the best insights from today’s media landscape. Whether we continue to call it TL;dr remains to be seen. Let’s get to it.
Opening Shot
Here’s an example of what I saw a lot of from those disappointed in the election results.
Filipovic writes about politics, women’s rights, foreign affairs and law to more than 21,000 subscribers on Substack. She’s left of center, certainly, and I find her writing incisive. It’s clear she’s frustrated. “We’re a nation where a Black and South Asian woman, the daughter of immigrants, had a real shot at the presidency,” she wrote in a post expanding on that tweet. “And we’re a nation where she lost to a racist reality TV star.”
The frustration runs both ways, as this tweet from comedian and podcaster Briget Phetasy clearly shows.
A more measured take along those lines comes from Jonah Goldberg, a longtime conservative columnist and outspoken Trump critic. His Nov. 8 column was headlined “Stop Bashing Democracy.”
I completely understand why some folks are so upset about Donald Trump winning. But that’s really no reason to trash-talk democracy, America, or the Americans who democratically voted for Trump. I am not backsliding or changing course here; I still think Trump is unfit for office. That doesn’t mean, though, that everyone who voted for the guy is a fascist, sexist, racist, or idiot.
There are many reasons this kind of talk is objectionable and ill-advised, but I’m going to focus on the one that matters the most: It’s not true.
Indeed. The Free Press noted the demographic shift of voters for Trump in its day-after election coverage under the headline, “No, The Problem Isn’t The Voters.”
Ever since Donald J. Trump arrived on the political scene in 2015, elites have claimed his rise signals the last gasp of a dying white-majority America alarmed by cultural and demographic shifts. This was always a kind of security blanket—an excuse to ignore uncomfortable truths.
If Tuesday’s election results do not demolish that cope once and for all, we’re not sure what will. Because look at the results: Trump made big gains among almost every demographic group: Latinos (45 percent went for Trump—a history-making number for a Republican presidential candidate), African Americans (13 percent voted Trump compared to 8 percent in 2020), Asians (39 percent), women (46 percent), the young (46 percent).
The only group Kamala Harris made gains with was white college-educated women and those over 65.
Here’s a chart with exit polling data The Free Press shared from the Financial Times.
That demographic shift is good for American politics, Goldberg argues in a Nov. 9 podcast.
You want both parties to be multiracial … if the Republican Party is (seen as) an all-white party, then you get to this place where Republican positions get seen as white positions, and that’s unhealthy. That can lead to all sorts of terrible arguments and policies from Republicans. And it can lead to all sorts of terrible arguments and policies from Democrats.
My takeaway: A healthier political landscape leads directly to better governance. That means moving beyond identity politics and recognizing the complexity within voter demographics.
Impact on Governance
Here’s an example — an outlier, I certainly hope — of what happens when our political rhetoric gets too extreme. I expect many of my readers have already seen this, but, if not, this should raise serious alarms. From the original reporting in The Daily Wire:
A federal disaster relief official ordered workers to bypass the homes of Donald Trump’s supporters as they surveyed damage caused by Hurricane Milton in Florida, according to internal correspondence obtained by The Daily Wire and confirmed by multiple federal employees.
A FEMA supervisor told workers in a message to “avoid homes advertising Trump” as they canvassed Lake Placid, Florida to identify residents who could qualify for federal aid, internal messages viewed by The Daily Wire reveal.
In response, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell issued a statement on Nov. 9:
More than 22,000 FEMA employees every day adhere to FEMA’s core values and are dedicated to helping people before, during and after disasters, often sacrificing time with their own families to help disaster survivors. Recently, one FEMA employee departed from these values to advise her survivor assistance team to not go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Trump. This is a clear violation of FEMA’s core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation. This was reprehensible.
I want to be clear to all of my employees and the American people, this type of behavior and action will not be tolerated at FEMA and we will hold people accountable if they violate these standards of conduct.
FEMA fired the employee on Monday.
Parting Shots
Here are two final takes on what happened in the election that resonated with me. The first is from Eli Lake of The Free Press. It’s from an Honestly podcast that came out before the election titled “Trump and the Art of the Bullshitter.” Lake explores the difference between lies and bullshit.
Trump’s tantrum and inability to accept his (2020) defeat was a sinister kind of bullshit that millions of Americans cannot forgive or forget. The Capitol riot was a humiliating event for America ... Presumably his bullshit had damaged him irreparably.
But that wasn’t the case. Trump supporters, the Republican Party, and perhaps even the majority of the electorate, all eventually forgave him. They forgave him because as disgraceful as January 6 was, the alternative to Trump was a party that weaponized the justice system against him, that used the government’s power and influence to censor critics on social media, all while declaring their fidelity to the Constitution and democracy.
That rankled people. They forgave Trump's sinister bullshit because his opponents put forward a kind of lie that violating democratic norms actually preserved them.
The last word is from CNN anchor Jake Tapper on election night, when it became clear Trump would win. It circles us back to our original point. Tapper suggests the election was decided primarily on three basic issues: inflation, immigration and war.
Probably there are a lot of Americans out there watching who are trying to make sense of tonight and trying to figure out why this happened. And I know that there are those who think that this is a manifestation of ugliness among their fellow Americans, that this is a vote for bigotry and this is a vote for misogyny, or this is a vote for racism, et cetera. And I want to take a moment and just reflect on the fact that if you look at the reasons why the voters who decided this election voted the way they did, it is not because of those parts of the MAGA movement or Trump’s comments in the past. It’s not about vindicating Trump for the lawsuits or the criminal charges or the impeachment.
The people who decided this election, the people in the battleground states who switched or who turned out don’t like the country as it is right now, mainly because of the three issues … It was mainly because of the economy and the beating that people are taking at the gas pump and in grocery stores. Inflation and immigration and the fact that immigration, there is a crisis at the border. There has been for several years … You can look at what’s happening in Ukraine and you can look at what’s happening in the Middle East and all over the world and believe that Trump had something to do with it, or not believe Trump had something to do with it. But it is true that there are wars going on right now that were not going on during the Trump presidency.
I think that’s a fair assessment. It also assumes the best in our neighbors.
Palate Cleanser
If you need your faith in humanity restored, here’s the latest from my favorite reporter, Steve Hartman of CBS News.
Worth Your Time
No TL;dr for this set of stories. These are worth reading in their entirety.
Whatever Happens, Love Thy Neighbor. The subhead says it all: I’m a Democrat living in a red, rural county. Trump supporters have mowed my lawn, walked my dog, and eroded my prejudices with their humanity.
Total Victory. In the wake of Trump’s victory, Mike Solana of Pirate Wires offers a brutal, often profane takedown of the mainstream media.
2024 Election Shows the Media Learned Nothing From 2016. A PG version of Solana’s take from Gerard Baker of the Wall Street Journal.
Gov Overtime: Hits & Misses
Tax dollars, meet the black hole of bogus superconductor research. The University of Rochester president has recommended firing Ranga Dias, a prominent scientist who claimed to discover a groundbreaking room-temperature superconductor, after an investigation found he manipulated data in multiple studies, including a widely publicized paper. The probe revealed Dias allegedly falsified data and plagiarized parts of a $795,000 grant proposal funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). As a result, five of his papers have been retracted, and his case has raised significant concerns over the use of federal funds in dubious research.
Better policing through technology. A network of 81 license plate recognition cameras will soon be installed at intersections across Frisco, Texas, after the City Council approved a $434,150 agreement with Flock Safety, according to Community Impact. “The world that we live in now, it’s an innovative world where everything’s got a digital footprint and there’s so much technology out there that we have this available to us right in our grasp,” Deputy Chief of Police Jason Jenkins said.
Chart of the Week
From Braver Angels, a non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to “Bringing Americans together to bridge the partisan divide and strengthen our democratic republic.”
What Do You Think?
I hope you find this new format beneficial. I may still do the regular TL;dr format on occasion. Other regular features I’ll be including in the mid-week newsletter include short, fun profiles of subscribers. Got a suggestion? Please let me know in the comments.
Onward and Upward.