Election Day is less than a week away. This is as good a time as any to look back four years ago.
In 2016, by this point in the election, there was a sense that it was over. The media was telling us, and a lot of Republicans thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win. There was hope she’d lose. But the safe money wasn’t betting against her.
This is the time that a lot of Republicans had to make up their mind. Would they vote for Trump or not. In 2016, a lot of us chose not to. A lot of Republicans weren’t sure how he’d govern, what he’d do in office, how serious he’d take the job.
We were wrong.
If you were to tell us four years ago that this is what we would have, I imagine there would have been a lot more Republicans to vote for Trump.
So what do we have from four years of President Trump?
Three Justices
A number of Republicans voted for Trump to make sure Hillary didn’t get to add another liberal justice to the court. The thought was ‘preserve the court, and we’ll see.’ President Trump has named three conservative justices. The last one, Amy Coney Barrett would have been unthinkable as a justice four years ago. A very Catholic woman on the court? The squishy-wing of the Republian Party would never have gone along with that. This week she was approved with votes to spare. Let’s not forget Neil Gorsuch (read his opinion in the Wisconsin absentee ballot case to see his colors) and Brett Kavanaugh.
There are three young, consevrative justices who will help shape and guide the court for a generation. No one thought that was possible in 2016.
Booming Economy
Before the corona-bros ruined the economy with their strategy of fear, we were looking at record unemployment in this country. Joblessness in Wisconsin was just about three percent. That is full employment. Nationally the jobless rate was three-and-a-half percent. There was record low jobless numbers for blacks and hispanics. Manufacturing was coming back in this country.
The economy was so strong that Democrats intentionally weakened it with the coronavirus just to try and hurt the president’s reelection chances. Unemployment peaked at almost 15 percent in April. It worked its way back to seven-point-nine percent by last month. Yes that is twice what it was to start the year, but already half of what it was at its worst. Put it this way, even with New York and California still largely shut down, America’s economy is strong and showing signs of growth.
Restored America’s Strength
There is a sense that you don’t mess around with America. After years of America apologizing and capitulating, President Trump has put the nation on the front foot with its military and forgein policy.
President Obama signed a deal that shifted power (in a terrible way) to Iran. He literally paid that country to release sailors they kidnapped. His actions caused a war in Yemen, Iraq, Syria, and continued to pose a threat to our troops in Afghanistan. You remember ISIS and Benghazi?
Where are those radicals now? They haven’t decided that they love America, they have just been killed. Under President Trump we smashed ISIS, we killed Iran’s top exporter of terrorism, and we have put the enemies of America into a box. When they step out, they get killed.
Pro-Faith, Pro-Life, Pro-Free Speech
A lot of Republicans were not sure that President Trump would actually be a conservative. He’s proven those people wrong. President Trump has actually pushed for pro-life polciies, as opposed to just talked about them. Same with faith and school choice. He’s actually done things to help religious people and religious schools. And President Trump, the so-called authoritarian, has spoken-up for free speech more than any recent Republican president.
If you would have told voters four years ago we’d get all that, would they take it? If the deal was President Trump will say (or Tweet) some dumb things, but we will get all of those wins would you take it?
I think most Republicans would. So what’s the question now? What’s the question this year?
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