THE PRAIRIE EDITOR: What Did Happen?

The votes are still being counted, and some races have not
been decided, but a clear picture of the 2020 election is
already visible.

The polls were mostly wrong, especially the establishment
media polls. The establishment media itself was egregiously
biased, including Fox News which abandoned “fair and
balanced” coverage to become predictably anti-Trump..
Voters in minority groups which were traditionally part of
the Democratic base shifted noticeably to support
Republican candidates, as the GOP made notable gains in
U.S. house seats while holding on to most of their vulnerable
U.S. senate seats (with two facing run-offs in January).  This
occurred despite predictions from most establishment
pollsters and pundits that Democrats were likely to make
“sweeping” gains in both houses of Congress.The GOP also
made a net gain of one state governorship and picked up
control of several state legislative bodies. Joe Biden, the
most moderate Democratic candidate in the primaries,
was nominated, and if his lead in the electoral college holds
after post-election scrutiny, he would be elected president.
Both major political parities were put on notice that their
extreme factions were unacceptable to most voters.

It was overall a victory for the political center, Each party
had successes and failures. Each party has “squeaky wheels”
advocating policies the voters will reject in 2022 and 2024.
Party leaders and candidates should beware of mistaking
noise for substance.

As for The Prairie Editor, his constant themes throughout
the long campaign were that the polls were wrong, the
establishment media were biased, traditional minority
voters were beginning to shift away from one party to
another, Republicans would do better than the polls and
many pundits said they would in U.S. house and senate
races, and the presidential race was likely a toss-up and
too close to call.

I hope my readers will permit me a victory lap.

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Copyright (c) 2020 by Barry Casselman, All rights reserved.