Nothing original here, but four quick take-aways from the mid-terms this week:
1. We are in a deep mess and we cannot vote our way out of it. Politics is downstream from culture. The culture is corrupt and so our politics is corrupt. Corrupt voters, swayed by a corrupt media, elect corrupt leaders who pass corrupt laws and glorify in their own corruption. Politics cannot save us; our politics needs saving. While we cannot ignore the bigger picture, I suggest making our focus as local as possible and working out from there. While we should not give up on national politics, we should recognize that our influence there will likely be minimal.
2. Renn is right: We really do live in "negative world." There is no denying this. There is no "silent majority" of conservatives out there who will rescue us. No one is coming to the aid of conservative and Christian Americans. Our policy positions are simply unpopular. Our list of allies grows thin. Now what? We better buckle down and get our own houses in order. It will be a bumpy ride for the foreseeable future.
3. The "age of Trump" is over. Yes, I know Trump did some good things; he got us Dobbs and that was wonderful. I recommended voting for him in 2020, albeit with some reluctance. But fair or not, he lost that election and ever since then he has become increasingly deranged and unhelpful. The failure of the Republican red wave to take place is largely on Trump, because of the candidates he chose to support and the tone that he set and the way he chose to spend (or not spend) campaign dollars. The bright spot of course is DeSantis, who has Trump's best qualities and then some, but with none of the negative baggage. DeSantis knows how to fight but without getting in the mud the way Trump does. It's time for Trump to step aside for good. He will only further damage his brand and legacy if he stays involved.
Of course, the fact that Trump ever rose to such prominence indicates one of our major problems: Most good people simply do not want to run for office. Conservative men tend to believe they can have a much bigger impact and live much better lives by going into business. Why subject yourself and your family to the media hate storm that conservative men in politics face? That leaves the conservative movement mostly to women, which is a bit odd, to say the least. Meanwhile, the possibility of becoming a career politician, of getting one's hands on the levers of power, of attaining quasi-celebrity status even without much real skill or knowledge, is just too alluring for many shallow-souled people. It's no wonder political office attracts such trashy people these days. We have devolved into the very thing the founding fathers most feared.
4. Women voters have become a big problem -- specifically single, college educated white women voters. Stats are all over the place but consider these figures from Brad Wilcox:
- Married men broke Republican by 20 points
- Married women broke Republican by 14 points
- Unmarried women broke Democrat by 37 points.
These women are "married" to Uncle Sam. They support just about every unnatural, anti-family position out there: abortion, LGBTQ+, feminism, climate change radicalism. I am not inclined to read 1 Timothy 2:14 as an indicator that women are more easily deceived, as I think the text is probably talking about an historical event involving one female, not commenting on feminine nature as such. But if one wanted to make the case that women are more easily deceived, these voting results could serve as Exhibit A. I am not opposed to women's suffrage as such (though I think a good case can be made for covenantal/head-of-household voting, women in my congregation vote in church elections), there is no doubt that the most ominous predictions about what would happen in America if women gained to right to vote have indeed come to pass. At least in America, women's suffrage has hurt the family and driven the country more and more leftward. Calling Ann Coulter.
There's another angle on this: Some think Joe Biden's college loan forgiveness plan was a ploy to win voters before the mid-terms. Perhaps. But I think something deeper and more sinister is going on. Most colleges and universities are entirely in the hands of leftwing progressives. Some STEM fields may be an exception, but this is most certainly true in the liberal arts and humanities of major universities. It is hugely advantageous for Democrats and progressives to get as many young people as possible to go to what amounts to a four year indoctrination/propaganda camp for their ideology. Women do not go into STEM as regularly as men, so it is no wonder many more come out college having been brainwashed by radicals, and then vote accordingly.
ADDENDUM: Two of my favorite social commentators, Wintry Knight and Aaron Renn, have chimed in on this issue of single women's voting patterns and what it means for society.