Above all, my motivation for supporting someone else in the GOP primary was that I didn’t think former President Donald Trump had any chance whatsoever to win the general election. As I’ve written before, I was as sure of this as I’ve ever been sure of any political prediction in my life. I had zero desire to be correct in this prediction though. In fact, as the election results solidified I was elated to be wrong.
But more than that, I also felt a sense of profound relief. Relief as a columnist and online pundit that I would be able to continue to express my opinions relatively free and uncensored. Relief as a father that at least some of the woke nonsense trying to brainwash my kids may be dialed back a notch or two. Relief as a business owner that the economy will get better and the regulatory environment will ease. Relief as a homeowner that interest rates might go down. Relief as a citizen that my right to defend myself and my family won’t be impeded. Relief as a Christian that my religious liberty will be protected. Relief as an American that our country is in good hands and we are much less likely to get into a pointless foreign war.
I could probably spend a few more paragraphs just on the ways things are going to get better, but you get the picture. Of course, there are no guarantees any of those things will absolutely happen, but I can say with certainty that the chances under a Republican president are far better than under a Democratic president.
If you consider my reaction, you might understand why I’ve not been as critical of Trump and other Republicans these past three months as some others on my end of the right have been. To me, it’s hard to get over the notion that we’re playing with house money. This is an election we were supposed to lose, but we won. So why not sit back, relax, and enjoy it?
I would imagine plenty of other Trump supporters, including maybe you, are also feeling this way right about now, at least to some extent. Except, how we’re feeling is probably exactly what the left hopes. Relaxed, relieved … dare I say, complacent?