The first and most important takeaway from the presidential election of 2024 is that inflation is the killer of incumbent politicians. There will be plenty of defenders of the Biden-Harris administration who will point to other factors to blame for the inflation that has left Americans poorer. Certainly, it is correct that inflation was not the only issue at stake, but the White House had to bear the burden of blame for the increase in prices. Why? First, the administration bought into the rhetoric of “transitory inflation” instead of the reality of a significant price increase that appears to be baked in regardless of the rate eventually settling down. Second, although the Federal Reserve had to wrestle with inflation by jacking up interest rates, the Biden-Harris administration did essentially nothing to help stop it. When a bucket of sand was needed, it poured gasoline on the fire of price increases by continuing to spend heavily. In fact, it would have spent more on student loan forgiveness had not the courts blocked its unconstitutional efforts.
The second takeaway is that President-elect Donald Trump is the most expectations-defying American politician of our age. Many, including me, thought that he was not only finished after the 2020 election but that he had consigned himself and his name to a kind of permanent infamy. Clearly, nothing could have been more incorrect. The previous greatest comeback was Richard Nixon returning from a presidential race defeat in 1960 and a California gubernatorial loss in 1962 (with a scowling, bitter exit) to win the presidency in 1968. Trump’s win in 2024 is even more impressive. Remember, this is a politician who has been twice impeached and then subject to an intense legal campaign covering both criminal and civil cases. Somehow, he survived it all not to merely eke out a victory but to massively prevail.
Third, Trump deserves credit for strategy. No Republican has won the popular vote since 2004. And it appears that Trump will win it handily. The American left has been so certain that a Republican could not win the popular vote that several states committed themselves to the idea of promising their electoral votes to the overall popular vote winner regardless of what happened in their own contests. With Trump taking the popular vote, that balloon will deflate rather rapidly. People thought it was crazy for Trump to hold big rallies in places like Madison Square Garden when he had zero chance of winning the state of New York. But he realized that the popular vote is a prize worth having and that it will bolster his legitimacy even if it is not the deciding factor. Assuming his lead holds up, Trump will be a much stronger president because of the choice he made to go beyond the map of electoral votes.
Click Here to Read More (Originally Published at World Magazine)