No laughing matter

By Rory Ryan
The Highland County Press

The Cackler stopped laughing last week.

After a political campaign for president of the United States that included a war chest of $1 billion and the backing of many celebrity elitists and the 2-percenters, the Cackler fizzled out with 11 million fewer votes in 2024 than her current boss received in 2020. 

Think about that: She received 11 million fewer votes four years later. Either the 2020 totals were inflated or 11 million Democrats simply did not like her. (OK, some of the 11 million may have died. But an 11-million-vote swing from Biden to Harris speaks volumes.)

Donald Trump not only won an Electoral College landslide with 312 electoral votes, he also won the popular vote with 74,708,855 after Arizona finally counted and reported its totals. (The state of Arizona must be taking lessons from the Highland County Board of Elections on counting votes. But I digress.)

The numerical comparisons between the 2020 and 2024 elections are curious. Four years ago, Trump received 74,216,747 popular votes, roughly 500,000 fewer than his 2024 total of 74,708,855. Yet, he won by 4 million votes in 2024, while losing by 7 million votes in 2020.

Perhaps stranger things have happened in U.S. presidential races, but I can't recall any.

As reported, what’s clear is that Harris ran a very expensive campaign. Her campaign spent an average of $7.5 million a day in August, in comparison to the $2.7 million that Trump spent. In September, the Harris campaign spent $152 million on advertising, more than double the $63 million that Trump spent.

For what?

It is clear that the majority of voters had little faith in Harris and most had grown weary of the Biden-Harris policies of the previous four years.

With the GOP poised to cash in on the trifecta – pending a few uncalled House races – one thing is clear: The Republicans need to move forward and not revert back to the Senate "leadership" days of Mitch McConnell or the House "leadership" days of Paul Ryan or John Boehner.

For the Senate majority leader, consider a Rand Paul from Kentucky, a Josh Hawley or an Eric Schmitt from Missouri, maybe Tom Cotton from Arkansas or John Kennedy from Louisiana. But not McConnell, not anyone like Romney and certainly not Lankford. According to reports, Senators Rick Scott, John Thune and John Cornyn are the top contenders to replace Schumer as Senate majority leader. Frankly, there are better choices than any one of the three.

I'm OK with the current House speaker, Mike Johnson. However, a word to the wise can be found in Congressman Jim Jordan's recent book: "Do What You Said You Would Do: Fighting for Freedom in the Swamp."

For if anything is really going to change in the bloated federal bureaucracy, the new majority in 2025 must maintain the conservative principles on which they campaigned. Do not repeat mistakes of the past, like clamoring to repeal Obamacare. Do not go down the A Train. That's best left to the states under the 10th Amendment: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

Lastly, find common ground when it's available. Start by working with members of the Mod Squad (moderate Democrats in the Senate) like Joe Manchin and Democrats in the House like former Marine Jared Golden.

The task ahead is Herculean. We have allies at war and allies facing potential war. We have a national debt of $36 trillion. We have runaway government spending. We have a wide-open border. It's time to end the bickering and do the work you are elected – and paid handsomely – to do. Fix it.

Let's hope for a positive new beginning in the new year. There's nothing funny about the last four years.

Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.