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Elections, Policies,
Facts, and Science
SOMETIMES IT is hard to be sure what it is that voters
are voting for, and what (or whom) they are merely
voting against. Sometimes it takes a second election
to get a clearer picture. Americans got that second
election a few weeks ago, in the form of gubernatorial
and state-house races in New Jersey and Virginia.
The message delivered was absolutely clear.
President Trump lost in 2020 because (although,
yes, a very substantial number of Americans support
him passionately) a clear majority of Americans
see him unfit for office. What November’s election
revealed, however, is that a vote against Trump
was not a vote for the Democratic Party’s social or
economic agenda.
Three key takeaways
One can cross-tab and analyze voting data in all
sorts of ways. It is impossible to analyze away certain
key takeaways, however.
First, none of the four gubernatorial candidates
was particularly objectionable and none of the four
was particularly charismatic; this was not an election
about the candidates themselves.
Second, virtually everywhere – across the map
in Republican areas, Democratic areas, and swing
districts – voting turnout was much higher than
normal for an off-year election.
And third, virtually everywhere – cities, suburbs,
small towns, rural areas – the percentage of voters
supporting the Republican Party increased and the
percentage supporting the Democratic Party declined.
There is nothing ambiguous about these results.
Opposition to social democracy and to
“intrusive” government is foundational
in American political thought.
The role of government
The voters see at least two important issues separating
the parties.
The first of these issues is what the role of the
government should be in providing social services
– child care, elder care, health care, education, affordable
housing.
The second is how much power the government
should have to boss people around. What the electorate
is telling us very clearly is that it is uncomfortable
with anything that looks even vaguely like
social democracy, and that it will not tolerate the
government telling it what to do even when these
instructions are eminently sensible.
Anyone familiar with the American political
tradition will find this unsurprising. Opposition to
Edward Rhodes is a professor of Government and International Affairs at George Mason University. Rhodes is best known
for his research into the philosophical and cultural roots of American foreign and national security policy. Rhodes served for
six years on the U.S. State Department’s Advisory Committee on Historical Diplomatic Documentation, the Congressionally
mandated, nonpartisan body that reviews and certifies the official, published account of American foreign policy for
completeness and accuracy.
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