Why some of our friends and neighbors voted differently
I voted for Joe Biden, as did many other Americans. But more than 71 million voted for Donald Trump. Is it possible that these millions of American were racists, bigots, misogynists and ignorant followers of an autocrat? If so, we are in deep trouble.
If not, then we need to analyze what really happened and why some voters decided the way they did. My conversations with friends and neighbors over the past few days revealed some of the reasons.
Economic: The Cares Act, which pumped more than a trillion dollars into the economy, brought many benefits directly to households: $670 billion in small business loans; $350 billion in unemployment benefits and direct spending in hospitals and other providers; $1,200 to individual taxpayers. When a second round of public subsidies were proposed, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi felt it was not enough. So, nobody got anything. Trump supporters naturally blamed the Democrats for intransigence.
Social unrest: While most Americans supported Black Lives Matter, it devolved into riots and destruction of property, including minority businesses. Ordinary citizens suffered (including supporters of the movement). Certain areas become “no-go zones” for first responders, endangering lives. Instead of responding firmly that public safety should not be compromised by protests, Biden and other Democrat leaders wavered. When an editorial in The New York Times raised the issue, it was attacked as being racist and the newspaper fired the editor who approved it. It was clear to many that the safety of our cities had been seriously compromised and mob reprisal had triumphed over free expression.
Public shaming excesses: While the legal prosecution of Bill Cosby and Jeffrey Epstein was widely applauded, the excesses of the #MeToo movement resulted in the shattering of personal lives of people who committed no crimes, whose careers were exemplary and who made major contributions to American society and culture. Among those, we could include Joe Paterno, winning coach of Penn State football; Garrison Keillor, beloved host of Prairie Home Companion; and the progressive Democrat, Sen. Al Franken. Many believed such cases undermined basic decency and community restraint, which protects innocent people from groundless attacks.
Ethnic and racial categorization: Both the press and pollsters constantly make assumptions that all Hispanics and African Americans are homogeneous. Yet major differences exist between Cuban Americans and Mexican Americans, between Hondurans and Puerto Ricans. Those who have businesses tend to vote more conservatively. Educators and those in healing professions tend to be more liberal. But even among those groups there are differences. Pollsters took none of that into account.
Illegal immigration: There are many Americans who are not racist or anti-immigrant but who nevertheless do not approve of open borders or undocumented migrants flooding into the country. These include union leaders, ranchers in the western border states, law enforcement personnel and many Mexican Americans, including Cesar Chavez, leader of the United Farm Workers, who saw the influx as undermining the gains he had made for legal workers. Pollsters also ignored the resentment of legal immigrants with green cards, who work legally, learned English and passed the citizenship test.
Criminal justice and rehabilitation: Neither Kamala Harris nor Biden has much of a record helping former inmates get their lives back together, or in reducing the disparities in sentencing for African Americans. Trump, on the other hand, helped push through the First Step Act. This reform made our justice system fairer and helps inmates return to society. It also granted judges discretion in sentencing for nonviolent crimes, eliminating mandatory terms for drug offenses.
Demonization, fear and self-censorship: The press castigated Trump supporters, calling them racists and worse. Hillary Clinton publicly disparaged them. When the pollsters asked who they would vote for, they were often silent, or said “undecided.” Who could blame them? Self-censorship has never been so prevalent, at least since the McCarthy era.
What do we want? If we really want a unified country, we cannot leave it up to the media or the internet, which encourages name-calling, blaming, incivility and outright contempt on both sides. We also cannot tolerate it by our silence or fear of being disliked. We need to come together. A good example for us to carry forward is the image of Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden. McConnell not only was the sole Republican senator who attended the funeral of Biden’s son, but he hugged his adversary in genuine sympathy. They were and have remained friends for more than three decades despite ideological differences. That is what unity looks like.