MARK PENN: 8 lessons for Democrats and Donald Trump

This election offers plenty of lessons for those listening to the voices of the voters – but will the politicians listen?  

First, conservatives and moderates took their country back

Only about 25% of the voters classify themselves as liberal compared to 75% who are moderate and conservative. Out went progressive DAs, marijuana referendums, and ranked voting efforts (except in D.C.). Moderates and conservatives are done with being ruled by the 25 percent.

Middle class economics mattered 

Trump won a majority of the working- and middle-class voters, while Harris won only those making under $30,000 and those earning over $100,000 a year. 

Most voters felt worse off under Biden, suffering from inflation and wages that failed to keep up with the rising costs of food, gasoline and housing. While the lower income Americans are dependent on transfer payments, the top quarter seems removed from everyday economic life. They vote on issues like climate change and racial equity since they already have food on their table.  

Issues, not identity defined the choice

The Harris campaign pitched to women as women, Black men as Black men, telling them they had to vote en masse for her or they would be betraying their identities. She avoided taking issue positions as a deliberate strategy, becoming the "no comment" candidate. 

Trump did the opposite – telling the voters it was issues like inflation, immigration and trade that mattered -- no matter what their gender or race was. And it should be clear now that the public wants strong borders not open ones, innovation through Elon Musk-like opportunity, not government subsidies and Iran treated like the pariah it is instead of coddled in the hopes it will come around.   

MARK PENN: Trump's triumph sends major message. It's the working class and middle America that run our country

The politics of demonization failed 

Trying to bankrupt Trump, imprison him, calling him a Nazi and a threat to democracy all made him stronger not weaker. Unfortunately, the Harris campaign has left many of its supporters believing all of this and some of them are having trouble readjusting to the world as actually is rather than the dystopian fantasy they have sold to millions 

Celebrity endorsements were worthless

People may love Taylor Swift’s music, but they know her life is far removed from the kitchen table decisions they face. Politics is a serious business and endorsements from Hollywood only reinforced how out of touch Harris was with the average voter. Yet the vice president announced a new one every day.  

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Men are back, particularly young men 

They broke with their sisters, spouses and partners. Latino men went for Trump by 55% according to the exit polls. And Latino women supported Harris by 60 per cent. Although still small, support for Trump from Black men doubled to 16 per cent. The biggest gender gap was with the young voters: men aged 18 to 29 who voted for Trump by 2 points while young women broke for Harris by 24 points. It’s the men who will be hiding their votes from their partners, not the other way around.  

The mainstream media became irrelevant 

Every day in the mainstream media, Trump was dumped on as hysterical and Harris praised as positive and sane while pushing for national unity. In the final days they hyped the joke of an introductory comedian at a rally as though it was the end of Trump. It appears Democrats have become so shrill and outlandish that only a few partisans pay attention to them compared to 50 million people who tuned in to some or all of the Joe Rogan podcast. 

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Last but not least… 

President Joe Biden should never have run

He is more Chester Arthur and Jimmy Carter than FDR. Biden had the lowest ratings of any recent president because he neglected all of these lessons and turned his presidency over to the woke left rather than unite the country as he had promised. Whether he ran or not though, it was his administration’s policies that failed in so many ways and brought back Donald Trump to finish out his eight years as president of the United States.   

The new administration can build on these lessons: end woke but don’t go too far and turn things over to the far right; stay focused on providing lower food, fuel and mortgage costs; promote merit and opportunity over identity preferences; genuinely try to bring people together rather than demonize their opponents; and keep communicating directly to the people.

 Do those things and America will feel it made the right choice.  

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