By November 5, at roughly 8:30 PM, Pacific Standard Time, the electoral bloodbath became apparent.
For how close the polls said North Carolina, Georgia, and the rest of the ‘swing states’ were, it was clearly over. The sunbelt was called for former president Donald Trump, a lost cause in its entirety. The voting margins in the Midwest were only seeming to get larger. Even ignoring the presidential race, the Senate had been painted a most robust crimson red, and the House was well on its way to total Republican dominance.
The immediate response, of course, was snark at this fact. Well-meaning people in my life – family, friends, and others – immediately proclaimed that America was done for. That the hordes of reactionary Whites in Pennsylvania, short-sighted Arabs in Michigan, and clearly unenlightened Mexicans in Arizona, had won out in the battle for ‘democracy’. It was time to prepare your trips to Canada, the United Kingdom, and wherever else Silicon Valley money can take you.
“It’s tough to remember how hateful this country is,” lamented a good companion of mine. They’re not entirely wrong, either.
The rhetoric for the last year has been nothing short of appalling. Trump called Biden a ‘bad Palestinian’ during a disastrous debate. Republicans have threatened millions of undocumented immigrants with deportation, chained people that work the fields and feed this country. And, perhaps most shockingly? The blood libel of the entire Haitian American community. A spike in white nationalist and neo-Nazi sentiment in Springfield, the heart of the controversy, has left the community on edge.
Let me be very clear on what this is; the height, and expression, of a most egregious national intolerance. An intolerance that broke down the idea of dog whistles with explicit bigotry, an intolerance that embraces the most conservative sections of American society… and an intolerance that is now scheduled to come into power this coming inauguration day.
Many Palo Altans, myself included, have nothing but scorn for this. Some even dare to argue that this is “not us,” despite what the popular vote indicates. But many here in the Bay forget, however, that they live in what is a glorified fever dream. A castle atop the hill, far from the mouth breathing masses of “the Midwest” or “the Bible belt.”
Here in liberal Santa Clara County? Households earning under $103,000 are considered low income. Morning coffee goes for eight dollars. The average person is so removed from discomfort that they might just forget what the price of milk is. I’d go as far as to wager that a few of the Tesla Cybertruck’s, which pepper the streets liberally, might be some prospective students’ first car.
On dad’s credit card, no less.
The grievances that arguably have launched Trump into a second term are grievances that are broadly unimaginable here. Few of the people who attend Palo Alto High School worry about the cost of their prescription medicine. The increase in grocery prices may go unnoticed considering the existing propensity to buy organic or GMO-free. Gas prices, while annoying, can be shrugged off.
Meanwhile, in a country where nearly 80% of its residents are living paycheck to paycheck, the realities are much starker. Childcare, gas, rising rents, the cost of your daily bread and butter? They’re at the front of your mind. Inflation can’t be written off so easily.
And for some, their reality was life or death.
Arab Americans are a traditionally Democratic bloc of voters. They make up a substantial amount of Michigan’s population. And while plenty of people I have spoken to condemned the idea of voting third party, often juxtaposed with the ever-looming threat of Trump, the ‘single-issue’ Arabs of Michigan stepped out of line.
In Dearborn, the heart of Arab American life, the city is mourning the death of Kamel Ahmad Jawed, a staple of the entire community. He was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. Jawad left behind four children, a wife, and angry people being told to suck it up and vote for the candidate promising to continue the flow of arms and funds to Israel. When protestors confronted her at rallies, demanding an explanation for her support, Harris used it to coin her new catchline: “I’m speaking now.”
If that’s the case? She should have listened, too.
In Dearborn, 18% voted for the third party Jill Stein, splitting the liberal vote across party lines. And over 42% voted for Trump, in direct protest of Harris’s pro-war stance, frustrated by what felt like a betrayal from the Democrats. And plenty of others boycotted the vote entirely, opting to stay home on election night. Michigan went red as a result, defying expectations.
All of this is to, at the very least, shine a light on why the results of this election were not as clear cut like so many had hoped. It wasn’t because of some cabal of money-grubbing racists. Nor was it because of yellow-toothed misogynists who hated that Harris was a woman. The people of the United States, both via the Electoral College and the popular vote, wanted change. Trump represented it for them.
The next months will be very pressing. I do not doubt that a sea of op-eds will be written condemning the various electoral scapegoats. But make no mistake: Here in Palo Alto, we are out of touch with the average American. Our proximity to the issues is often minimal at best.
For better or for worse? It’s hardly over. Rather, the next four years have simply begun. Issues like abortion, Gaza, immigration, and America’s control of the climate crisis, will soon be under the control of a Republican trifecta. The Democrats have been thoroughly beaten in that regard. And, with that, a liberal retreat will ensue.
Palo Alto’s armchair liberals will need to make a choice: Will they embrace the movement, the spirit of resistance to the specter of Trumpism, or will they shrug it off? I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not particularly confident that the streets will be full of hoodie-clad software developers fighting back. But the truth, frustrating as it is, must be driven home.
Which side of history you want to be on will not matter. The struggle will continue on all fronts, with or without us.