Full disclosure: In 2016 I voted for Hillary Clinton; in 2020 I voted for Joe Biden; last week I voted for Kamala Harris.
If you’re gathering that I was disappointed in the outcome of the election, you’d be right. Nevertheless, Donald Trump is now my president. He’s yours, too. It’s called democracy.
But let’s consider four good things about the election, as well as one bad thing:
Good Thing No. 1: It may seem contradictory, but I’m glad Donald Trump won the popular vote by more than 3 million votes, as well as the Electoral College.
This hasn’t happened for Republicans since George W. Bush beat John Kerry in 2004.
But winning both the popular vote and the Electoral College lends a clarity to this election that we wouldn’t have if our antiquated Electoral College had produced a president against the wishes of a disgruntled majority.
This election expressed clearly what the majority wants, as a good election should.
Good Thing No. 2 (sort of): If Trump had lost, what would we have done with him?
How do we take ourselves seriously as a nation that believes in the rule of law, if, after his defeat, we just ignored all the crimes that Trump is alleged to have committed?
On the other hand, the unseemly spectacle of prosecution of a former president for mishandling classified documents and attempting to overthrow our government is not an attractive prospect.
With Trump’s victory, that problem goes away. Of course, we still have that little rule-of-law problem.
Good Thing No. 3 (again, sort of): Trump’s victory probably averted a constitutional crisis.
Had he lost, it’s clear that he would never have accepted defeat, nor would many of his followers. Systematic plans were already in place to contest the election.
A Trump loss could have plunged the country into dangerous chaos.
No, my MAGA friends said, we have more to fear from a Trump win: Antifa and Black Lives Matter will take to the streets! Really? Antifa?
