Yes. Running against him on those hyperboles, instead of offering solutions and a new way forward as more than a catch phrase, was part of the problem.

I'll repeat now what I just said in a friend's post:

"it was democracy in action. I understand your fears, concerns, and feelings. I choose to keep the light lit and embrace uncertainty.

MAGA is a minority. A majority voted for Trump. Why? Are people stupid? Or are the dems tone deaf and ran on issues that helped Trump turn the center toward him? I found Brooks's https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/06/opinion/trump-elites-working-class.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YE4.wwLW.dlWokO8BOGIi&smid=url-share and Stephens's https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/06/opinion/donald-trump-defeat-democrats.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YE4.mKYY.kYGyYiIf_r3h&smid=url-share post mortems yesterday compelling. I also think back on the column that Brooks wrote between the conventions, in which he urged the Dems to offer hope and new direction to the middle class. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/18/opinion/maga-trump-vance-democrats.html?unlocked_article_code=1.YE4.QvG2.7fpdIsVsgwFR&smid=url-share Instead, she went on The View and said she wouldn't change a thing from the Biden years.😱

I felt oddly at ease as the results came in and I saw the handwriting on the wall, even though I hate the result. Part of the ease may be that I'm just glad the election is over and I can stop seeing the awful ads run incessantly by both sides in my battleground home PA. Part may also be that deep down I had accepted that this result was coming. Like my soul knew.

My POV is people have always voted their pocket book. It's just so stark this time. I'm not going to hand wring and fear what's out of my control. If he runs as amok as he may, and if they manage to implement portions of their project 2025, the mid terms are only 2 years away. I've been saying for a while that it just might be that people need to see for themselves what can happen when a person like this is given the power of the presidency and this time unchecked by responsible people like Kelly and Milley and others who served in the first administration. Him winning might be part of the universes plan for The (alleged) Shift. To break through the denial. No one born after The Shift can even vote for another 6 years. The vast majority of the planet's population was born before the Shift (alleged). This is a long haul process.

An old phrase seems apt here--it's always darkest before the dawn.

So hang in there."