We’re Not Going Back

by Eileen Powell

The election that was lost to Donald Trump felt like a gut-punch to many Americans.  Many of us saw Kamala Harris’s campaign as the way forward to continuing the legacy of decency and humanity that make us proud to be Americans.

Trump, on the other hand, in his “make America great again,” appealed to our darkest fears, offering only the necessity of toughness and cruelty to certain groups of people who often happen to be our neighbors as the only path to a safe society.

Harris had just three months to prepare her presidential campaign; her message was simple, and clear to most of us. She repeated, at every appearance, “We’re not going back.”

Those of us who understood that statement were grateful to hear those words. It wasn’t a progressive statement, a trip into the unknown. She meant that the battles for the freedoms in question had already been hard won before, often through blood-shed, by brave, determined patriots. The notion begs the question, how many times do the same battles have to be fought?

What Happened?

The armchair quarterbacks in the form of political pundits are now eagerly sharing their views on why Kamala Harris lost. Most of them are admonishing us not to dwell on the obvious, but search deeper into the failings of the Democratic Party for reasons.

According to Politico, She never sufficiently buried Biden’s ghost. Well, Biden is a decent enough human being so maybe there is some truth to that. Was he perfect? Probably not. Does that mean that in the eyes of more than half of the Americans that President-elect Trump is perfect and that is why he is clearly the better choice? If it is true that great leaders lead by example, then we are in trouble.

Many of those who voted for Trump have agreed that they don’t really like him, but they still think he makes a better leader. When did that idea start making sense? Some very nice people have actually stated they wouldn’t want him in their living room. They apparently do not see the contradiction in the notion that someone not welcome into the family home can be welcome in the Oval Office as the president of these United States.

 An article in TIME said she let the GOP define her. Actually, the opposite is true. She refused to let the GOP define her. When asked if she would like to comment on some denigrating thing Trump said about her, she would simply answer by saying that she was not interested in getting caught up in his same old playbook.

Those of us who believe in Kamala Harris’s vision need to brace ourselves. Because we’re not going back.

Eileen Powell is currently a freelance writer living in Marion, SC. She is a native of New York State, moving to the south more than thirty years ago. She’s known locally as “that opinionated Yankee liberal,” a label that she enjoys.