Having mused upon it, now a week since the election, I think that there were three things involving President Donald Trump that impacted voting not going his way…

First, there is Trump’s behavior. Since being inaugurated for his second term he hasn’t been acting as presidential as he did during his first. He’s been too determined to put his name on as much as he can this time around. Trump 1.0 wasn’t like that. Trump 2.0 is acting more like a pharaoh of old. Perhaps he’s fearful of the mortality that he is facing as much as any of us do. Truly great men are simply good men, they are content to let history judge them and let the chips fall where they may. Trump in the past couple of years has not been doing that. That more than anything else of the man himself might be what brought about pause in voters who had earlier been enthusiastic about him.

Second, is the war with Iran. Which, I have been in favor of. Iran declared war upon the United States in 1979 and has been an active aggressor through its sponsorship of terrorist organizations. Trump is the very first president to take proactive measures against this enemy and he has especially been determine to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon, which is something that would be BAD for ALL of us. I’ve supported the president on his waging war against a country whose leadership has long been acting against us, but I also realize that many other Americans haven’t supported that.

Third, and I believe that this is the element that was most against him, was the Republicans in the United States Senate. I think that a LOT of citizens would have gone to the polls to enthusiastically vote in Trump’s favor during the midterms had something good actually come about of his policies that were held up in the Senate and kept from proceeding, by the very same Republicans who were thought to be on his side. The American people in vast part want the SAVE Act to be passed, but Thune and too many other GOP senators kept delaying that until it was too late. It’s no wonder that a lot of people are frustrated that Trump’s second term has not delivered on the promises that he campaigned on in 2024. The fact is, the Republicans in the Senate are PATHETIC. They only “go along to get along” with the Democrats whose record in the past several years has been one of being against the best interests of the American people. Republicans in the Senate are a dismal failure. Their refusal to back much of Trump’s legislation – which has been more popular with the American people than many might give him credit for – should be something that is forever noted by historians and political scientists. Had the Republicans in the Senate been more proactively attuned to the popularity of Trump’s legislation that he sent to Capitol Hill, and passed those bills, the voters would have reciprocated kindly. Instead a lot of voters simply felt tired and used and abused… and they didn’t care to show up at the polls and vote as usual.

There are other thoughts that I have had about the various aspects of this election. I might share those in the days to come.