OPINION:
According to Real Clear Politics, 63.8 percent of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track. This could explain, in part, the amazing victories for conservatives during last Tuesday’s local and state elections.
Across the board, liberal pet issues lost while conservatives won elected office. Liberal cities led the pack in rejecting what we’ve always been told are “trends” or a reflection of a “changing” America. Well, not so fast.
The Matt Bevin gubernatorial victory in Kentucky made the biggest news. Here was an outsider businessman who challenged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2014 and lost, came back and was handily elected governor of Kentucky Tuesday night.
Polls said Mr. Bevin would lose, another example of polls projecting the preferred liberal result. Even the leftist rag Salon covered Mr. Bevin’s win by noting it “undermines” Democratic theory but also is bad news for Democrats across the country.
Why? Because Mr. Bevin ran against everything liberals hold dear including their own Rosemary’s Baby also known as Obamacare. He approached the issues in an unapologetic way, rejecting political correctness and the notion that, in order to win, Republicans have to find “common ground” on liberal issues.
Bunk.
Beyond the Bevin victory there was a whole host of issues that if you allowed the Legacy Media and pollsters to determine reality, you would think have already been embraced, heralded and accepted by the American people — things like the joys of sanctuary cities, legalized marijuana, gun control, a $15 minimum wage and more so-called equality laws that simply expand the footprint of government on our necks.
But what if Americans have been bullied into believing that they were on the wrong side of the liberal bullet train? What if, in fact, Americans had been conditioned by political correctness into not trusting their own judgment, into believing that they were the only ones who still thought legalizing pot was a bad idea, and sanctuary cities were destroying our quality of life, and that a higher minimum wage made no sense economically?
Tuesday’s election results should indeed frighten liberals in that, I contend, it represents a renewed trust by the voter in their own opinions and assessment of the facts, and they are now willing to vote what is right regardless of the names and abuse hurled at them by the left.
And we have one man to thank for that: Donald Trump.
Personally, I’m not a fan of Mr. Trump politically. I believe him to be a liberal, but one thing is undeniable: He has demonstrated to the American people that it’s safe to reject the leftist Thought Police, to cultivate your own opinion and to trust your judgment. Liberals will wail this is bad news, as the dogs of racism, homophobia and sexism will be unleashed.
This, of course, is just more projection, as liberal policies enacted throughout this nation continue to destroy the lives and futures of people of color and women in particular. Tuesday should be seen as an indication that the American people have had enough with the lies of the left and are ready, willing and able to take this nation back from a fantasy world only a masochist could love.
Mr. Trump reinforces the rejection of leftist orthodoxy every day with television viewers and the tens of thousands who attend his rallies. His plain, honest talk usually contradicts the leftist narrative, which is virtually unheard of in the public sphere.
Finally, Americans are realizing they’re not alone in being appalled at what is transpiring in the nation and are realizing a house won’t fall on them if they dare to think, consider and judge the left for the scourge they are.
Cases in point:
Despite being told legalized marijuana is something the American people want, Ohio rejected their state initiative making the drug legal by an overwhelming 65 percent of the vote. This despite pre-election polls saying it would pass. Who knows, maybe the pollsters were high.
Portland, Maine, rejected an initiative to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 58 percent of the voters. Portland. Maine. Not exactly a conservative barnburner, yet they still know when something is a job killer.
In Houston, voters overwhelmingly said no to a so-called gay and transgender rights ordinance that opponents noted would have allowed men access to women’s bathrooms. Supporters said that was ridiculous fear-mongering, but it’s a problem unfolding across the country, including at high schools. At least two-thirds of the voters said absolutely not to the notion that equality has devolved into allowing men into girls’ bathrooms.
San Francisco rejected an initiative that would have trimmed the sails of Airbnb by limiting the number of days someone could rent their property.
Entrepreneurship won; liberals trying to kill small business lost.
At the same time, San Franciscans fired the sanctuary city supporting sheriff who defending the city’s position in the aftermath of the Kate Steinle murder.
Liberals have been full of excuses in the days following Tuesday’s blowout. They insist it’s because Democrats don’t vote in midterms. And that’s true, largely due to a lack of enthusiasm.
The “enthusiasm gap” as it’s known, is a key factor in election results as it affects turnout, and 2016 doesn’t look any better for the Democrats.
The Washington Examiner reports, “Entering the 2016 elections, Democrats face a wide ‘enthusiasm gap’ benefitting Republicans, according to a new poll. The survey conducted by Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg found that 67 percent of Republican voters are jazzed to vote compared to just 52 percent of Democrats for a 15-point gap … Asked if the 67 percent enthusiasm was a floor or ceiling of GOP enthusiasm, Greenberg said, ‘I think it’s a floor.’ “
Considering the fantasy world liberals live in, it makes perfect sense that they resist facing facts, and they can make all the excuses they want, but not only are Americans sick and tired and not going to take it anymore, we’re not afraid to say so, either.
• Tammy Bruce is a radio talk show host.
