(Un)Common Sense 2020
common sense: sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts
prudent: characterized by, arising from, or showing prudence, such as marked by wisdom or judiciousness
--Merriam Webster Dictionary
Listen to what's being said and ask yourself, "what are they really saying?" and/or "what's in it for them?" Common sense should dictate that there's a universally, or near universally, held truth or belief based upon a "simple perception of the situation or facts" and a "sound judgement" that is "marked by wisdom or judiciousness."
Yet as of today in an overtly divided country, if one were to hold up a drawing of a square, some 33% would call it a circle because they unequivocally refuse to believe the people representing the drawing Another 10 to 15% would call it a circle because directly benefit from it if it were in fact a drawing of a circle and some 3-5% would just go along because they've always like this side and/or dislike the other. A handful are apathetic, another handful say it's all corrupt and time for a revolution and there's a minute group who would go to court and argue it's a circle if you somehow erase the sides. There's 10-15% who love the fact that it is a square because of direct benefits, some 33% who accept the universal truth that an object with four equal sides with four 90 degree angles is, in fact, a square and some 3-5% who go along because they've always liked this side and/or dislike the other.
Can common ground as a basis for common sense be found amongst this group? Never fully, but there are some universals, like if something is glowing and the closer you get the hotter it gets it's not wise to touch it, lest you feel pain. Or the simple posting of a 20 mph speed limit in a school zone because going 65 mph in an area where kids are is just asking for trouble.
Common sense, right?
But life is complicated. That's why we have lawyers who defend or attack laws and interpret the laws in the judicial system. Simplicity does not benefit them.
Which leads us into the realm of politics.
The election, for all intents and purposes is over as President-elect Joe Biden is set to receive 306 electoral votes based upon a receiving over 80 million votes and counting. These numbers are in dispute from the White House and his attorneys as they claim massive voter fraud without presenting any evidence thus far. That fact, which has them one for 36 in cases they devised for court, still hasn't stopped President Trump and his acolytes from screaming fraud, with the president at yesterday's press conference stating, “This is not a candidate that can get 80 million votes,” he said of [President-elect Joe] Biden. “The only way he got 80 million votes is through a massive fraud."
As of now the vote-count for the 2020 Presidential election, which had the highest percentage of the voting-eligible population since 1900, has Biden with 80.1 million votes and Trump with 73.9 million, a difference of 6.2 million votes.
President Trump received 10.9 million more votes, about a 14.7% increase, this election cycle than he did in 2016 when he beat Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton.
In 2016 Clinton received about 65.8 million votes while Biden received 80.1 million this year, a difference of 14.3 million votes or 17.8%.
It's a percentage difference of 3.1% which translates into about 4.6 million votes more votes for Biden.
That's a rather hefty increase, however there are two factors that overtly helped fuel the increase and another one concerning Trump himself which also contributed.
The headline from the August 11, 2020 Morning Consult reads: Biden Doesn’t Repel Voters Like Clinton Did in 2016, and That’s a Problem for Trump. It's author, Eli Yokley, wrote, "A recent Morning Consult/Politico poll found 35 percent of voters view Biden very unfavorably, compared with 43 percent who said the same of Democrat Hillary Clinton in August 2016. The starkest difference in views — a gap of 20 percentage points — came among independents: 31 percent said they had a “very unfavorable” view of Biden, while 51 percent viewed Clinton very unfavorably around the same time four years ago."
Yokley goes on to quote Eric Ostermeier, a research fellow at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs. “Biden’s ability to maintain generally favorable ratings among independents thus far in the cycle therefore spells trouble for Trump and explains a lot of Biden’s polling success. While there is still plenty of time for Trump’s messaging to partially deflate Biden’s numbers, at this stage of the campaign Biden’s modest advantage – among an electorate with seemingly fewer and fewer persuadable voters each cycle – seems golden.”
Speaking of independent voters, in 2016 Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and Green Party nominee Jill Stein combined for just under six million votes or about 4.5% of the popular vote. This election cycle saw Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen receive 1.8 million votes and Howie Hawkins of the Green Party get about 392 thousand votes for a total of 2.l million votes totaling 1.3% of the popular vote.
How that 3.2% of independents voted hasn't been dissected yet but based upon Ostermeier's "generally favorable ratings" for Biden account, one can see him outpacing Trump. In addition to Biden's favorable rating, he faced off against a president whose approval rating never rose above 45.8%, according to fivethirtyeight.com, during his presidency and heading into election day Trump had the third-worst unfavorabilty rating of any modern president seeking re-election (52.6%.) Only George HW Bush (55.5%) and Jimmy Carter (54.8%) were worse and both lost their bid for re-election.
President Trump came into office as a street thug without regard for civility, norms or truth. He was a self-proclaimed master of everything, narcissist incarnate and shoveler of bullshit to the tune of over 25,000 false or misleading claims, according the Washington Post who began tracking this since his inauguration. All of this, and more, would have been swept under the rug had the world not been thrown into a pandemic earlier this year. It was a truth he couldn't lie his way out of no matter how hard he tried. And boy did he try.
Despite rallying his base, which was a pretty impressive feat, President Trump lost his re-election bid because a large swath of voters, representing numerous demographic groups, cast their ballots against him and the way he handled himself the four years in office. It's backed up by the down-ballot votes for Republicans as they turned back what many thought would be a blue wave this election cycle and it's something that the Narcissist-in-chief refuses to believe or accept.
More people liked Biden/disliked Trump that liked Trump/disliked Biden. It's a sound and prudent judgment based upon a simple perception of the situation or facts. In a fractured America, it's a simple case of (un)common sense.
Popular vote:
Biden--81,283,495
Trump--74,223,755
Electoral votes:
Biden--306
Trump--232
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