Dear Friends,

CLICK HERE FOR ELECTION ANALYSIS, WITH CHARLES AND ED

Charles Goldman and Ed Fallon — aliens, sure, but mostly harmless.

As I see it (Charles has a different idea), the biggest takeaway from this week’s election isn’t the overwhelming success of Democrats up and down the ballot.

It’s President Trump’s response.

All along, I expected anger and denial from Trump if Democrats won.

I thought he’d declare the election rigged, as he did in 2020.

I imagined he’d send troops to confiscate voting machines. File court challenges. Declare a national emergency.

Given the administration’s track record, I expected the worst. I thought Trump and his cronies would pull out all the stops to try to overturn results in US House and Senate races.

For the past year, they’ve certainly been doing everything possible to skew the election in favor of Republicans. Why stop just because the election is over?

So I was genuinely shocked when Trump conceded, saying that Democrats “did a good job,” adding that he will “look forward to working with them.”

Maybe we should take Trump at his word. Maybe he will enjoy working with (or fighting with?) a Democratic Congress.

As Michelle Cottle wrote in a New York Times column: “Conflict is Mr. Trump’s jam. The nastier the better. For all his self-aggrandizing talk about building stuff, his true talents lie in combat and destruction. He long ago shattered the spine of the GOP, so humiliating its members now is a minor thrill at best. But facing off against Democratic majorities in both chambers still buzzing from their electoral win? Now that is something to live for.”

We’ll see. I’m not sure I agree with Cottle, but I find her perspective interesting.

I’ll go out on a limb and predict that more and more Republicans will criticize Trump, push back against his demands, distance themselves from him.

We’ve already had a taste of that with Vice President Vance blaming Republican election losses on the Iran War — a war of choice that Trump started and has failed to end, despite claiming it was about to end an incredible 30 – 40 times!

I’ll go out on a second limb and predict that we’ll see some triage within Trump’s inner circle, starting with Stephen Miller. Miller getting the axe would be a truly great moment. Trump’s right-hand man and the force behind the administration’s ugly immigration policy, Miller is both the most powerful and most sinister person in Trump’s inner circle.

Trump, of course, continues to insist that if he had been on the ballot Republican candidates would have won. I doubt there is a single other person in the country who believes that. Well, maybe Natalie Harp.

So, Democrats had a great night on Tuesday. Republicans could still cause a lot of damage (especially regarding judicial appointments) between now and January 3.

But on January 4, Democrats need to get to work fixing the many serious problems facing Americans. Some of those problems have been caused by Trump and the Republican Congress. Others are long-standing problems, exacerbated over the years by status-quo leadership within both parties.

Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action. And if you’re a central Iowa resident, remember to support the local businesses and nonprofits that help underwrite this platform.

Ed Fallon

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