Democrats must adopt ‘Us vs Them’ mentality, Trump voters have made it the norm (BRUCE BAERT COLUMN)

By Bruce Baert

For the Trentonian

Since Donald Trump is sure to claim this election one way or another, Democratic voters would do well to finally adopt the “US AGAINST THEM” mentality that Trump voters have always had and let go of all worries pettiness about Kamala Harris and voting en masse for Harris tomorrow is based, yes, on one issue: she is not Trump.

Since November 2016, I have often been called an “extremist” and “panicked” by many of my fellow Democratic voters for warning them that it is literally “Us vs. Them.”

As someone who was a former paid volunteer election day worker for several elections in the 1990s in my home county of Los Angeles, I witnessed voter apathy and saw and heard many voters record their reasons or excuses for not voting. In this age of Trump, I respect the absolute determination and loyalty that the Republican Trump voter consistently has to vote for Trump. Instead, I have nothing less than contempt for my fellow Democrat voter who can find reasons not to vote in these aptly named “the most important elections of our lifetime.”

Democratic voters would do well to finally stop dreaming and accept that literally nothing Trump does or says will deny him support. If you are a Democrat, many of you need to stop saying that you need to “get to know Kamala better” or you men who worry that since she is a woman, how will she rule on the world stage or do you think that Trump would do the economy better.

HELLO! Have you forgotten the dumpster fire that was for all of you during Trump’s first term?

Look, since Trump changed the rules and rewrote the old political road map, it’s almost silly to list all the Biden policies he’s going to kill. It should be enough for any Democrat just to know that all alarmist warnings aside, it is simply a fact, at least for this longtime Trump supporter, that his second term or regime will be chaotic, it will be a vengeful schoolboy who spends the most. of his presidency by going after political enemies. I bet he’ll unleash his madness with all sorts of fun things, some of which we can’t even fathom. From ordering the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to investigate, fine and even try to take down late-night TV shows like Jimmy Kimmel, to launching investigations into lawmakers like Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff, to ordering National Guard to prevent the faculty. students to protest Israel’s attacks on Palestine.

And as usual with Trump, he will also say and do things that no pundit or political pundit can or will predict. Acting with his new presidential immunity, he will unleash his vengeance and fury on political enemies, including individual citizens and even entire blue states. He will forgive himself. All his lies to the contrary aside, of course he will push for a national abortion ban, end aid to Ukraine, end Obamacare, roll back global warming measures, conspire with Vladimir Putin, and quite possibly had the chance to appoint yet another ultra-conservative justice to the US Supreme Court. Every day he will be a daily national slay with the negative bull he will say, tweet and most importantly do.

Democratic voters have no excuse not to get out and win this election for Harris. I don’t know why it is too much to expect all registered voters of any party to vote. If there was ever a day when 100% of that party’s registered voters cast a ballot, their candidate would win hands down. But if even just 75 percent (still a record number) of Dems voted, especially in swing states, Harris would be guaranteed a victory. However, at least in our still great country of America, if half of the registered voters vote, that is considered a good turnout. Poll workers like a good turnout… They and I want everyone to vote: Republicans, Democrats and third parties. As I mentioned earlier, I admire the loyal Trump electorate, which includes two of my own brothers, unwavering in their support for their man.

But even the record total voter turnout in 2020 garnered only 66%, which is a failing grade on a high school exam.

“The 2018, 2020 and 2022 elections were three of the highest turnout US elections of their kind in decades. About two-thirds (66%) of the eligible voting population turned out in the 2020 presidential election – the highest rate for any national election since 1900,” according to the Pew Research Center.

Yes, it’s time for the Democratic Party and their constituents to adopt the “us vs. them” attitude of the GOP and support their Democratic candidates no matter what. In 2016, when former first lady Michelle Obama proudly advised us that “when they (Trump and his political allies) go down, we go up,” I thought it was ill-advised then, and I do now. I’m a fan of Mrs. Obama and sorry to defy the former First Lady, I realize it’s bad social media karma these days to ask Michelle Obama, Taylor Swift, or God – in that order.

But immediately, in June 2015, Trump had already played a completely different game. And all these years later, Democrats have to realize that now they have to stay downright loyal to their candidates and not abandon their candidates for things like if they wore blackface once 32 years ago at a party of brothers. At least temporarily, maybe just as long as Trump is a national spokesman, I really do think the worthies need to match go-low with go-low. The rationality of thinking like a normal ethical person did not work for them. Liberal Americans, nearly every political pundit and pollster, and frankly the media, especially the mainstream media, have consistently underestimated and misread Trump’s political genius and his vast support.

So, we’ll see. More and more Democrats have realized it’s now or never. Even Mrs. Obama seems to have abandoned her “go high” mantra. Despite many so-called pundits criticizing Harris for campaigning on “she’s not Trump,” I’m glad she points that out; it really is that simple, yet so important.

We already have eight years of Donald Trump. So if not enough Democrats vote and Trump wins, I’m sorry, I just don’t want to hear the whining and I’m talking about the Democratic side. I’m sorry, but I will not be able to handle four more years of late night comedians Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and Stephen Colbert ranting every night about Trump’s latest comments or actions. I just won’t. He preaches to the choir anyway. And I won’t feel much sympathy when women and men and Pussyhat protesters take to the streets against any attempts at abortion bans. I’m not going to watch celebrities like Chelsea Handler or Amy Schumer post Instagram videos crying and criticizing President-elect Trump.

On the contrary, Trump’s political allies cannot turn away from Trump when he finally goes too far. And to be clear, he will absolutely go off the rails. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Nikki Haley are at the top of the long list of Trump defenders and misleaders who will have to be held accountable. Mark my words, when Trump finally goes off the rails and goes too far, Graham and Haley, among so many other political allies, will cave. Wait and see: When Trump’s political demise finally comes, his allies like Graham and Haley will magically wake up. They will say something like, “I am appalled and appalled by President Trump’s actions, and I can no longer tolerate them or support him as president.” No, please run the media, save the thousands of videos you have of all his political allies defending him no matter what, and don’t let them change overnight. They sold their souls to Trump a long time ago. They’re not stupid, they knew what they were doing, so they can’t get a free pass and be let loose when all hell breaks loose in a second Trump administration that is planted in a cornerstone of presidential immunity.

Indeed, if the Harris-Walz ticket loses, please CNN and MSNBC let’s not guess and blame the candidates this time. It’s that easy. They went to every necessary state, said the right things. Voters who don’t vote always get an excuse, they’re kids. It’s not romantic or viewer-friendly, but if the Democrats lose, let’s finally put the blame where it belongs: squarely with the voters who stayed home for the most important presidential election of their lives.

– Bruce Baert is a former MediaNews reporter and now contributor for the Southern California News Group and a former longtime paid volunteer at the polls.

Originally published: November 4, 2024 at 3:11 PM EST