Trump's win will put America's democracy to the test
Donald Trump won the presidential race, and his win may very well be America's loss.
The president-elect and Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on Wednesday and agreed on the need to "unify the country." Let's hope that's the case, though Trump's track record on this front is an invitation to skepticism.
Now the U.S. has an incoming leader who is a convicted felon; incited an insurrection, was impeached for it and has said he will pardon those convicted in hundreds of Jan. 6-related criminal cases; has repeatedly promoted the lie that he won the 2020 election; fed his supporters a steady diet of anti-immigrant rhetoric and division; has promised retribution, once back in office, to his political opponents; openly praises dictators; has a plan to gut the federal civil service and replace career government workers with political loyalists; and will likely further jeopardize reproductive freedom.
Our democracy, as well as policies favored by many Americans, now face a major test of endurance. Trump will have much looser guardrails, if any at all, from a Republican-controlled Senate and possibly a Republican-controlled House. He will be free to implement the goals of the right-wing America First Policy Institute, such as increasing oil production and removing America from the Paris Agreement on climate change.
America was warned about Trump by people who surely know him best: former officials in his administration, including military leaders; staunch conservatives like former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger and former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney; plus the smattering of other Republicans who publicly abandoned Trump's ship.
Yet overall, Trump's support rose among nearly every demographic group, compared to the 2020 election. Even in traditionally blue Chicago, support for Trump increased, and he garnered 22% of the city vote, up from 12.41% of the city vote in 2016.
Many factors at play
Chicago and Illinois stand to potentially pay a direct price in a second Trump administration. Federal funding for the massive Red Line extension, the O'Hare modernization project, gun violence prevention and clean energy, such as tax breaks for electric vehicles, could be in jeopardy.
Part of Trump's platform calls for sending the National Guard into "high-crime" communities, some of which might be in Chicago. If Trump follows through on even part of his plan to deport millions of illegal immigrants, that too would have a huge impact across our state. And Illinois' role as a haven for reproductive rights is likely to increase if anti-abortion activists push for more abortion restrictions in Trump's second term.
"In 2017, I sought public office in large part because of the threat Donald Trump and his allies posed to Illinois, and as governor, I have helped enshrine into state law protections that uphold our common Illinois values," Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement issued after Trump's win. "That work will continue, and it remains my north star."
No doubt a variety of factors played into Trump's decisive win, including America is apparently just not ready to join the one-third of United Nations member states — 60 in all — that have had a woman — in this case, a Black and South Asian woman — as leader. Then there's the economy and immigration, which repeatedly topped the list of voters' concerns.
Harris's policies on both never got enough traction with voters to carry the day, especially in a shortened campaign season after President Joe Biden's late withdrawal from the race. Some voters may have found Harris was too far left for their tastes. And pro-Palestinian advocates pushed her to take a harder stand against Israel in the war in Gaza.
These and other factors that impacted the vote will be debated over and over in the weeks to come. But the big takeaway is this: The 72 million people who voted for Trump presumably saw him for who he is but weren't deterred from voting for him. As Trump's second term unfolds, all of America will have to live with their decision.
In a speech to her supporters on Wednesday at her alma mater, Howard University, Harris sent a message of hope amid defeat, calling on America's better angels moving forward. She spoke of continuing the "fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at our best."
America's ideals and democratic institutions are worth preserving. The next four years will show whether America can manage the job.
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