Nope, MAGA does not have the mandate

Trump's victory margin continues to shrink.

“The hard question isn’t the 2 points that would’ve decided the election. It’s how to build a Democratic Party that isn’t always 2 points away from losing to Donald Trump — or worse,” quizzed Ezra Klein on one of the social media platforms.

After November 6th, when it became clear that Trump had won, I stopped tracking the presidential race. As the dust started to settle, we were finally able to see things more clearly. Trump is no longer leading Harris by a massive 7 or 6 million votes. His lead is now down to 4 million votes, with another 8 million or so votes still left to be counted in the West Coast and a few other states.

The final margin is estimated to be in the 2-point range, or maybe even less. That’s why Ezra Klein asked the question, 'How do we build a Democratic Party that isn’t always 2 points away from losing to Donald Trump?'

This puts a lot of mind-numbing questions to rest. The MAGA movement, once again, claimed a great victory. Never forget, they will never accept a loss. Up is down, good is bad, and bad is good. They are already pushing the narrative that the right wing has won a huge mandate to rule the country as they see fit. They dismiss Biden’s 4.5% margin of victory as irrelevant, but suddenly, a 2-point victory is hailed as the greatest win ever.

Not true.

Here’s where things stand right now in the critical three states. Trump won Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania by a combined 250,000 votes. There are still a few votes left to be counted, so the final margin could very well end up being less than a 250,000 vote difference between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

In 2020, Trump lost these states to Biden by 255,000 votes. Turnout didn’t reach where it should have. The U.S. broke a 12-year trendline.

I wrote two weeks before the election that voter turnout is crucial for U.S. democracy.

Donald Trump’s baseline is very close to the halfway point of previous turnouts. Democrats must mobilize their voters and ensure that turnout does not dip. With a strong baseline like Trump’s, if turnout declines in certain states, he can edge his way to victory.

The only way to stay ahead of this coalition is to keep a cool head, get to work, and turn out voters who understand the threat Donald Trump and his backers pose to the country. Dems can win, but they cannot underestimate the strength of Trump and MAGA.

Democrats performed exceptionally well in the Senate and gubernatorial races in key battleground states. With the exception of Pennsylvania, they won Senate races in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan. They also won the governor's race in North Carolina. Although the global anti-incumbency wave following COVID affected the ruling parties and may have pushed victory out of Harris's reach, Democrats still managed to secure several tight races nationwide.

Consider the House, for example. As of this writing, Democrats have won 205 seats, while Republicans hold 214. It appears the dems will be four or five seats short of majority.

That is not a mandate.

Let’s take a step back. Trump won the presidency by a margin of 2% or less. Despite an extraordinarily challenging Senate map, Democrats succeeded in multiple battleground states, and they limited the House margin to just four seats.

It is victory with a small margin. But a victory nonetheless.

MAGA won the election by a narrow margin in a year when turnout fell short of where it needed to be. Millions of voters simply didn’t show up.

So, let’s keep things in perspective. Don’t buy into the narrative that the country has veered sharply to the right—I made that mistake myself. With the numbers now clearer, it’s evident that MAGA won a close race. And let’s drop the baseless accusations of cheating. Trump and MAGA had a fallback option in case they lost, but there’s no credible evidence to suggest fraud.

It’s incredibly difficult to cheat the U.S. election system. PERIOD.

The left is starting to adopt tactics from the right, but this is a mistake. Stop spreading falsehoods. There’s no need for it, and it only weakens the cause. If you keep insisting you didn’t lose and making excuses, you’ll never improve. We’re not here to build a dictatorship; we’re here to pass down a healthy democracy to future generations. If that’s your goal, accept the setbacks and work on addressing them.

The real challenge for Democrats now is to find ways to win even when turnout drops. Make turnout less of a deciding factor.

If they can do that, MAGA won’t always be within two points of winning. There is only one way to do it.

Never play defense on the economy.

Ever.

Why? Why? Why?

Becuause it is the only topic capable of cutting straight through the fog of right-wing misinformation. No other issue offers this potential.