Buckle up, folks. We’re in for a bumpy ride.
Election Day is over. What happened? How did it happen? Why did it happen? What could we have done differently? What does this mean for the future? And what do we do next?
What happened?
Donald Trump won the presidential race, handily. Republicans won control of the U.S. Senate, and, as of Wednesday afternoon Nov. 6, it looked as though the GOP will retain control of the House of Representatives.
How did it happen?
The early exit polls show Trump’s three strongest groups were white men (59%), Hispanic men (54%), and white women (52%). In Georgia, it was even worse. One exit poll said that 69% of white women voted for Trump. Even after he took away their reproductive rights and was found liable for sexual assault, most white women voters still chose patriarchy over their own liberation.
Let’s be real. Trump doesn’t represent policy. He represents cultural resentment against a changing America. That’s what people voted for.
Kamala Harris’ three strongest groups were Black women, Black men, and Latino women. The final numbers will change when more data comes in, but the problem is that Harris’s base (Black women, Black men, and Hispanic/Latino women) are only 18% of the electorate. But Trump’s base (white men, white women, and Hispanic/Latino men) made up 77% of the electorate.
As for the Senate, Democrats held a narrow majority and faced a brutal map trying to win in red states like West Virginia, Texas, Ohio, and Montana. That’s part of the reason Harris tried to stay away from controversies that might hurt the Senate candidates.
Why did it happen?
This is a tricky question to answer before all the data is collected, so let me just say this.
Some people are blaming inflation and the economy for Trump’s success. I don’t buy that because Black voters are more negatively affected by inflation and the economy than white voters, and we voted overwhelmingly for Kamala Harris.
In fact, I don’t think it was about issues at all. If you look at policy alone, nearly all of Harris’ proposals got majority support, but only half of Trump’s did in a recent Washington Post survey. Missouri voters approved a measure to increase the minimum wage, which Harris supports, but still voted for Trump to be president. Most Florida voters cast ballots to protect abortion and legalize marijuana, even though they didn’t reach the 60% threshold for a constitutional amendment.
Those are Democratic positions. Let’s be real. Trump doesn’t represent policy. He represents cultural resentment against a changing America. That’s what people voted for.
What could Harris have done differently?
There’s going to be a lot of debate about campaign strategy, but it’s too early to draw definitive conclusions. Republican David Urban complained that Harris should have run a more centrist campaign. I disagree. She bent over backward to accommodate centrists and Republicans. Critics on the left argue that she should have run a more progressive campaign to motivate the base, and that’s complicated, too, because doing so would have cost Democrats the Senate in those tough red states.
As a Black woman, Harris had little more than 100 days to introduce herself to the public and mount a presidential campaign against a powerful white man who is a former president bankrolled by the richest man in the world, Elon Musk. Despite those obstacles, she raised a billion dollars, drew huge crowds, and generated excitement in a race that was lifeless before she entered.
Nothing mattered because it was never about issues. White America has been lecturing Black people about crime, morality, and patriotism for years, and then they vote for a convicted criminal, sex offender, and insurrectionist to be president.
No Black person or woman with Trump’s track record and two impeachments could ever be nominated, much less elected president. That’s why it’s not about policy. It’s about race and gender and the changing America. Donald Trump is the avatar of white supremacy.
What does this mean for the future?
Trump can appoint a new attorney general who will fire Special Counsel Jack Smith and dismiss the criminal charges against Trump for the January 6 insurrection and stealing government documents.
With a Republican Senate, Trump will be able to appoint several new Supreme Court justices, who will be young enough to give Republicans control of the Supreme Court for the next 20-25 years.
Trump has also promised to abolish the Department of Education, bring back stop-and-frisk policing, and give law enforcement immunity from prosecution, so be ready for that too.
What do we do next?
Hakeem Jeffries will now become the leader of the opposition in Congress. And there is some good news in the results. Josh Stein defeated “Black Nazi” Mark Robinson in North Carolina. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Angela Alsobrooks won respective Senate seats in Delaware and Maryland.
But what happens next is up to us.
This is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. And no matter what happens in the days to come, I am clear and certain that we are on the right side of history. Don’t give up. Live to fight another day.
“Black Vote, Black Power,” a collaboration between Keith Boykin and Word In Black,
examines the issues, the candidates, and what’s at stake for Black America in the 2024 presidential election.
St. Louis native Keith Boykin is a New York Times–bestselling author, TV and film producer and a CNN political commentator.
Thank you
This is the most cogent statement I’ve seen yet in the post election analysis. There are many whites who don’t support this administration but not enough. We will be watching and working. Signed, a white woman who voted for Harris.
Today, many evangelicals are delirious that “God’s chosen one” has won. I see it differently. The election of Trump isn’t a sign of His approval, but a signal of judgment for our nation’s past and ongoing sins. Warnings were also ignored when Israel clamored for its first king. God help us all.