On January 20, 2021, at 12:01 in the afternoon, Joe Biden became President of the United States. We are now just three weeks into his term, and already many of the 81 million or so (at least that will be the official record) are feeling ‘buyer’s remorse’. In addition, the Democrats kept control of the House and gained control of the Senate. Following are some examples of actions taken, whether in the voting booth or elsewhere, that begs the question of voters, “What did they expect?”
Our first example has to be Liz Cheney, the lone House member from Wyoming. To put things into perspective, Liz moved back to that state to run for office, and did so on the strength of the name and reputation of her father, Dick Cheney. The elder Cheney had served as Wyoming’s Representative, and became Secretary of Defense for President George H. W. Bush, and ended his public career by serving as Vice-President for George W. Bush. He was considered the most powerful Vice-President ever, but left office with a 13% approval rating by the public.
Liz, one of two daughters of Dick and Lynne Cheney, has risen to the number three post in the Republican House caucus. She recently voted to impeach a President of her own party, and it did not go well. She has been roundly criticized by many, and has been censured by her own party in Wyoming twice. As of now, her approval rating in her home state is 13%, the same her father achieved.
Voting with the opposition party? What did she expect to happen? What did voters expect when they reelected her?
According to popular ‘legend’, Biden won the Presidency after a somewhat unconventional campaign. He made many policy announcements, and garnered many endorsements from individuals and organizations. One of these was the United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters.
When Biden, through an executive order on his first day in office, called a halt to the Keystone XL pipeline, union leaders and members were vocal in their denunciation of this action.
What did they expect? Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, repeatedly claimed that such an action was going to be taken. Did they believe him or not? Endorsing the Democratic ticket and voting in large part for Biden in spite of campaign promises to do what he did has now impacted their livelihood. Just what did they expect to happen?
About 81 million votes (more or less) were cast for Biden/Harris. Most Americans do not want taxpayer money to be used for abortion in other countries. Another of Biden’s executive orders reversed former President Trump’s policy of denying such action. The Mexico City Policy, which denied federal money for abortions, first put into place by President Ronald Reagan, was reintroduced by President Trump.
Many of those 81 million are understandably upset by the President’s actions. Since he and Harris made clear in the campaign what they were going to do, what did they expect?
Americans are also in favor of strict control of our borders, especially the border with our southern neighbor, Mexico. Trump ramped up enforcement of our policy about illegal aliens, gained the cooperation of Central American nations in preventing caravans of illegals coming to the United States. Joe Biden, on the campaign trail, declared that those policies would be jettisoned as soon as he could do so.
Another executive order was signed, and we see the results. Caravans are now forming and heading north from Honduras and Guatemala. This week saw five Iranians crossing into Texas, thankfully apprehended before they could wreak any havoc on our country. Some of Biden’s voters are appalled at these occurrences. Biden/Harris made open borders a part of their platform — but, again, what else did they expect?
Biden is not through with rewriting American law. He also rescinded the prohibitions concerning transgenderism. Part of this would allow boys/men who identify as girls/women to use whatever bathroom they want, and to permit such to compete with ‘natural’ girls in athletic contests where they (the boy/girl) will inevitably win those contests. Many of Biden’s voters have daughters who will be impacted adversely by that order. But since the now President campaigned on this issue, what did they expect?
New Mexico voted heavily for Biden in the 2020 election. Pennsylvania was put in the Dem’s column, after some questionable vote-counting anomalies. But one of the new President’s executive orders banned fracking and oil leases on federal lands. New Mexico depends heavily on the tax income from such economic activity for their state coffers and Pennsylvania is also into energy production from fracking and oil. Despite the promises of Biden/Harris to make those moves to ban the procedure, millions still voted for them.
Now both states are hurting because of this executive order. What did they expect when they puller the lever for the Democratic candidates? Again, what did they expect?
Voter’s remorse is probably a staple of any election. But this last one has that more than any other in my memory. But the question now can be asked — what will these, who now regret some of their candidate’s actions, do in the next election? Will that remorse cause them to change their electoral choices?
Remember the old adage: insanity is repeating the same action over and over and expecting a different result.