Yesterday was the second biggest day in American Electoral politics, Super Tuesday, exceeded in importance, and in actual number of Americans voting, only by Election Day, November 5, 2024. Ten weeks ago, I noted after the first couple of Republican contests, the GOP Caucuses in Iowa, and the New Hampshire GOP Primary in the Granite State, that we could confidently project the 2024 Presidential Race would feature the same two candidates as the 2020 Campaign. Donald Trump won both contests, and while the Democratic Party’s Primary Season had yet to kick off, as an incumbent President, Joe Biden was certain to be the other principal in a binary choice.
As I write this, the results from Super Tuesday continue to roll in. At midnight, there has been on deviation, as Nikki Haley won the Vermont Primary. Meanwhile, Biden seems poised for a clean sweep of the states with Democratic contests. However, he did lose the one Territory, American Samoa, that was contested last night.
The bottom line is, we are about to, as they say in sports parlance, run it back. There are two candidates capable of winning in November, Biden, and Trump, and you get to vote for one. The end.
So yesterday was the end of the beginning of our two-part voting season. For all practical purposes, you have one more shot, the fall Early Voting period/Election Day. This is where I insert my regular programming. If you haven’t registered to vote, do it tomorrow. Plan to vote as soon as the Early Voting period begins, if your state or territory has one, and if it doesn’t have one, plan to vote on Election Day.
As I watch and listen to various analyses of the candidates, and the pending Election, two key things resonate. First, Republicans in general, and especially Trump supporters, believe whatever he says. They accept the mean tweets, they embrace the hyperbole and untruths as fact, and they largely consider those who take exception to his ramblings, as infidels. Second, Trump himself says those who don’t get on board with him should be forever exiled from MAGAdom. His supporters dutifully agree.
If Super Tuesday resolved anything, it is that the GOP Race, if there ever was one, is over. Late last night, House Speaker Mike Johnson congratulated Trump as “our Nominee.” At this writing, Nikki Haley had not conceded. She declined to issue a statement after last night’s results. Nevertheless, Trump continues to move rapidly toward the goal of 1,215 of 2,429 delegates required to win the nomination. The powers that be within the GOP are nearly unified in urging Haley to drop out so Trump can focus solely on Biden. Team Trump has projected that they may reach the threshold as early as next week. The clock is tick, tick, ticking, and the hands of time cannot be turned back. Miss Nikki’s days are numbered. The remaining outstanding questions appear to be, will Haley make an about-face and endorse Trump, and if so, when?
On the other side of the equation, Biden has his own set of concerns. His support is lagging among several constituent groups of the Democratic coalition, as I mentioned in last week’s post, including, but not limited to, African Americans, Moslem Americans, Hispanics, young people, and progressives. At day’s end, the margins in all those groups will matter. Biden may not fall below 50% support in any of those groups, but every vote counts. If the margins are substantially less that they were in 2020, it may be lethal to Biden’s chances to win. However, it’s not just those who will vote for Trump instead of Biden that matter. Just as important, and possibly more so, will be those who stay at home and don’t vote.
In summary, I will say again: your vote matters. Moreover, for all those who don’t know, don’t recognize, or don’t believe Biden did anything to enhance their lives over the past three plus years, he did. Let me count (some of) the ways:
Leveraged the full force of the federal government to advance racial justice and equity
Created new business opportunities/promoting entrepreneurship for Black Americans; 60% wealth increase vs. pre pandemic
America is the premier energy producing (including oil) country in the world
Added 14 million jobs since January 2021 (Trump left office at minus 2 million jobs)
Contributed to the lowest unemployment ever, including for African Americans
Unemployment has remained below 4% for 22 consecutive months
Inflation (which is still too high) has fallen by two-thirds
Reduced child poverty to historic lows
Expanded access to quality low income housing
Increased access to quality education with historic funding to HBCU’s
Expanded access to affordable healthcare
Advanced voting rights and police accountability
That’s just a dozen examples of things that too often fly under the radar, but that affect the day to day lives of millions of average Americans, especially those in the Democratic coalition. The Biden Administration has fostered and executed the initiatives above, and many others.
Now, let’s defy the odds, VOTE November 5th. “Super Tuesday is in the Books!”
I’m done; holla back!
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