Former GOP governor: What the election says about where America is headed | Opinion

The Honorable Jim Martin is old school North Carolina and sadly out of touch. But given that Mecklenburg County voted strongly in favor of the Democratic Candidate his Opinion is at least worth consideration. Martin being an old white guy chose to voice his concerns via the Charlotte Observer which few people read. Even reading online is painful with endless pop ads, videos and subscriptions pleas.

So here unedited is the published Governor's letter to the editors.  

We’re one week past an election that would have been a surprise no matter who won. President-Elect Donald Trump and his team are busy organizing key appointments. Democrats are busy blaming each other for a hard-fought loss. Losers respond this way after close elections. Partly it’s jockeying for position four years later. 

Much will be written about how polling dominated much of every day’s news. By emphasizing that Trump was gaining, very close or ahead of Harris, polls conveyed subliminal approval that it was popular to vote for Trump. For two months voter preferences seemed frozen in time.

Both parties dumping a half billion dollars on just seven swing states surely stirred their bases but probably overloaded the minds of the small subset of undecided voters. Too many wild accusations may have strained belief. Swing states were confused by thousands of harsh ads accusing each other respectively of fascism or communism. Fear of Trump was offset by distrust of Harris. 

Some acknowledge a major handicap for Vice President Kamala Harris. She had never won support in any state presidential primaries. The hot issue of abortion rights was her best major policy advantage, plus being the only candidate with no scandal or criminal record. Border control came too little, too late.

Both parties dumping a half billion dollars on just seven swing states surely stirred their bases but probably overloaded the minds of the small subset of undecided voters. Too many wild accusations may have strained belief. Swing states were confused by thousands of harsh ads accusing each other respectively of fascism or communism. Fear of Trump was offset by distrust of Harris. Some acknowledge a major handicap for Vice President Kamala Harris. She had never won support in any state presidential primaries. The hot issue of abortion rights was her best major policy advantage, plus being the only candidate with no scandal or criminal record. Border control came too little, too late.

Her campaign tried to appeal to moderate voters, hinting how she would work for everybody, whatever that meant, while assuring the base that her “values haven’t changed.” The only concession she personally promised consistently was to permit fracking in Pennsylvania. If she had a legitimate reason for that, she never let on. 

The celebrity class helped Harris raise money, but few voters are persuaded by opinions of elites. Her strong emphasis on identity politics to energize racial minorities and feminist voters likely backfired, driving substantial numbers of young adult males, white, Black and Latino, to Trump in hopes of job prospects and defense of their masculinity. 

James Carville, after predicting a Harris victory (nice try, James), lamented that her campaign was negated by “woke era” politics. Stephen A. Smith criticized that she was “catering too much to people on the fringes.” On the extreme left, Sen. Bernie Sanders chided her for not pushing socialism, even after she promised new free stuff. Harris was blamed for advancing progressive ideals too fast and too slow.

Meanwhile, Trump kept acting like Trump: vindictive, boastful, insulting, long-winded, scowling, even frightening, with a mass hypnotic effect. Television news filled its sound bites of Trump with his blatant bluster of name-calling, leaving little time to critique his policies. It was as if millions concluded that his criminal trial amounted to partisan persecution and January 6, 2021 was a patriotic celebration. It was still among the six closest elections in a hundred years, about the average margin of electors for the last seven elections in a deeply divided nation. 

Our immediate future depends on our leaders of both parties and all factions taking a calmer approach with each other, discussing differences with clarity and respect so decisions can be worked out for the good of all. As always, there will be mistakes, errors and false starts. There will also be many steps for our benefit. 

What’s ahead for America? Much depends on the attitude shown by the new leadership of the Trump administration. More respect and less revenge on former opponents will help rebuild a more united nation. This will be easier for them if Democrats continuing in office will rise above the tactic of opposing every Republican initiative just for spite. Then the rest of us can speak freely with confidence, lifting up bipartisan agreements that work while calling out partisan excesses that divide.

Let’s be courageous enough to lift up the positives before we call out the negatives.

Cedar's take: 

Jim Martin is 88, he was a friend of my father's and they rode with the same posse. Names only "Old Charlotte" would recognize as people who mattered. His opinion should matter. It won't.

His dislike of Trump is not surprising. Martin who was elected simply because he ran for Governor the same year that Reagan ran for President is diametrically opposite of Donald Trump. 

Trump defeated Harris in a landslide except in Mecklenburg County where Harris beat Trump by a wide margin. 

Kamala D. Harris DEM 374,955 65.17%

Donald J. Trump REP     187,197 32.54%

Perhaps the bigger concern are the 13,000 neighbors who voted for Green Party Candidates or wrote in "My Dog". 

Let's be honest democrats aren't going to fix Charlotte. Crime is out of control, the sheriff is racist AF, CMPD moral is low, perhaps not as bad as under Rodney but still low. Most are continuing the days. City Infrastructure is abysmal, roads, street lights, mass transit, even the airport is poorly managed. 

Yet  they keep electing the same democrat clowns year after year. Please understand they are some democrats that deserve respect. Some I even voted for last week.

But seems crazy to me people who fled the high crime and taxes of California, the Northeast and Midwest would move to Charlotte and yet vote for the same politicians who destroyed the last place they lived. 

To them I have only one question - need a map?