Gary Bauer: End Of Day - 11-6-24 - A Historic Victory, Trump's Grand New Party, The Blame Game

As I was thanking God last night watching the returns come in, I was also thanking Him for all you! Our work in defense of Faith, Family, and Freedom would not be possible without your prayers and sacrificial giving. Each and every one of you played a vital role in this victory. So, thank you and congratulations! Now, let's get to work making America great again!

A Historic Victory As you know, Donald Trump won a historic victory. His amazing political comeback makes him the first president in nearly 130 years to win two non-consecutive terms and only the second president in history to accomplish that rare feat. Trump not only prevailed, he also had coattails that swept a new Republican majority to power in the U.S. Senate. This critical victory means that Trump will be able to confirm more conservative judges to the courts. We're still pouring through all the results. It will likely take the rest of this week (and perhaps longer) to call every race and to analyze what the results mean for the future. But already there are some important lessons to be learned. Below are some observations.   Trump's Grand New Party Donald Trump's reelection is a victory for conservative populism. He has remade the Grand Old Party, and the old Republican establishment has been humiliated. Not only is the left reeling, but the hidebound GOP old guard is also reeling. Here's a depressing fact: There are seven living former Republican presidents, vice presidents, or GOP presidential and vice presidential nominees. Only one of them supported Donald Trump. That was Sarah Palin – the vice presidential candidate the GOP establishment despised. Bush, Romney, and Ryan were AWOL, while Dick and Liz were actively helping the left. To the Cheneys: Don't let the door hit you on your way out! When a coach makes a great trade -- getting a star player in exchange for a mediocre player -- we say, "This guy is brilliant!" Well, Donald Trump traded the Cheneys for Elon Musk, Joe Rogan, Tulsi Gabbard, and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. That's a great deal, in my opinion! Trump's Big Tent For years, the GOP establishment has prattled on endlessly about needing to be a "big tent" to attract more voters, especially minority voters. But their way of "expanding the tent" almost always involved sacrificing conservative values. Donald Trump expanded the GOP coalition without compromising conservative principles. The left has been doing a lot of horrible things to the country. But their strategy of identity politics -- dividing us into tribes (especially by race and gender) to keep us at each other's throats for their own political benefit -- is the worst. They put that strategy on steroids in this race against Donald Trump. Unlike every other Republican who ran from it, Trump didn't back down. Instead, he ran into the teeth of it. The left spent billions of dollars calling Trump a racist. He got 25% of the black male vote and flipped a heavily black county in North Carolina. The left spent billions of dollars calling Trump a xenophobe because he wants to secure the border. He won 54% of Hispanic men. He became the first Republican presidential candidate to win Florida's Miami-Dade County in 30 years. All the left's predictions of demography destroying the GOP were blown up last night. The left spent billions of dollars saying Donald Trump hates women. He did much better with female voters than anyone expected, while Harris struggled with a gender gap among men. How many times have you heard someone say, "Donald Trump is destroying the GOP's chances?" Under his leadership, Florida, Iowa, and Ohio – once brutal battleground states – are now deep Red. Moreover, he has demolished the "Blue Wall" twice. Trump is expanding the GOP's base in the Electoral College. Trump Wins Again   News broke this afternoon that the Biden/Harris Justice Department is conceding defeat in its years-long lawfare campaign against Donald Trump. Referring to Special Counsel Jack Smith's January 6th case and the classified documents case against Trump, top Justice officials reportedly "see no room to pursue either criminal case." That said, Jack Smith will be responsible for "unwinding the charges," and no one should expect him to do so responsibly or quietly. The Deep State is terrified right now. A Trump campaign spokesman responded to this news, saying: "It is now abundantly clear that Americans want an immediate end to the weaponization of our justice system, so we can, as President Trump said in his historic speech last night, unify our country and work together for the betterment of our nation."       The Blame Game Grab the popcorn and take a seat. There's going to be one heck of a fight in the Democrat Party over whose fault this is. Some are blaming Walz. Some blame Harris for not picking Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate. Some say they never should have pushed Joe Biden out. Some say Democrats have gone too far left. Some say they aren't left enough. By the way, did anyone else notice the huge difference between Biden's vote in 2020 and Harris's vote last night? So far, she's got 67 million votes. We're told that Joe Biden got 81 million votes four years ago. If that's true, it seems that Democrats somehow misplaced 14 million voters! Where are they? If you find them, give me a call.

An Election Lesson In addition to all the political analysis, this election also had a lesson for Christians. Sometimes Christians fall into the trap of thinking, "I want nothing to do with politics. It's too worldly. I'm just going to sit in my church and pray." That is theologically ill-conceived. There is also a temptation to fall for the opposite mirage – that political engagement is everything and that all we have to do to save the country is register more people to vote. What we must understand is that it is both of those things. Unless we're ingrates, we need to be Christian citizens to save America. We also need to fervently pray. God helped David to defeat Goliath. But there still needed to be a David to go and fight the actual battle. Good News & Bad News We won big victories against crime in California. A ballot initiative overturning many of the state's soft-on-crime policies passed overwhelmingly. In addition, George Gascon, the Soros-funded district attorney in Los Angeles County, got crushed last night. Several states approved election integrity measures, including the battleground state of Nevada, which overwhelmingly approved a photo ID requirement to vote. And an amendment putting pot in the Florida constitution failed. Now the bad news. Thankfully, we defeated the pro-abortion candidate who spent billions of dollars thinking that her best chance to reach the pinnacle of American politics was by standing on a mountain of aborted babies. Unfortunately, we continue to lose ballot referenda on the abortion issue itself, and I don't have the answer yet. Of the ten states voting on abortion ballot measures yesterday, we lost seven and won just three. But we only won in Florida because the state requires a supermajority vote to amend the constitution. Keep Praying Many Americans were deeply worried about what could happen over the course of the past year. Two assassination attempts were certainly bad enough. But between now and January 20th, every tyrant in the world, from Ayatollah Khamenei to Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping to Vladimir Putin, is wondering if they should make a move in the remaining 56 days of this weak administration before Donald Trump says, "So help me God." Keep praying, my friends!

Thomas D. Klingenstein: We Won’t Go Back to Libertarian Economics

By Oren Cass A chasm has opened within American conservatism between an old guard whose blind faith in markets has degraded the common citizen's quality of life and a New Right determined to restore a focus on workers, their families and communities, and the national interest. At its heart, the dispute is an economic one. What is the proper goal for an economy? What has gone wrong and why? What is the role for government in charting a better course?   Vivek Ramaswamy clearly sees himself as a peacemaker in this struggle, and has proposed a new ideology halfway between the two sides that he calls "National Libertarianism." The problem with positioning oneself halfway across a chasm, though, is that there is nowhere to stand; only a long way to fall. If National Libertarianism contains a theory of the economic problems afflicting the United States, or a vision for how to address them, Ramaswamy hides it well. What is National Libertarianism? The best description would be warmed-over market fundamentalism with a dash of nationalism sprinkled on to mask that past-the-expiration-date funk. Ramaswamy focuses on three issues — trade, immigration, and the regulatory state — and in each case winds up embracing the old-guard economic view, almost inadvertently, for lack of anything else to say. His critique of the New Right alternative, to which he assigns the tellingly redundant term "National Protectionism," is mostly that it takes seriously the need to depart from the old orthodoxy, which he makes no effort to defend. Take the issue of trade. Donald Trump believed "that the top objective of trade policy shouldn't just be to blindly increase the size of the economic pie but instead to advantage American manufacturers," says Ramaswamy. But he disagrees. Rather, his own departure from the old orthodoxy would focus "exclusively on eliminating U.S. dependence on China in those critical sectors for U.S. security." That's an important issue, no doubt, but hardly the only one. What about the health of the domestic industrial base, the allocation of capital to productive activity, and the quality and dispersion of good blue-collar jobs nationwide?

Read More

Concerned Women for America: Trump Win is a Win for American Women

Washington, D.C.— Penny Nance, CEO and President of Concerned Women for America (CWA), the nation's largest public policy women's organization, had this to say on the news that President Donald J. Trump has won the election to become the 47th President of the United States:

"American Women have spoken loudly today. President Donald Trump was the only candidate to sign Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee's Presidential Promise to American Women, promising to 'uphold the truth that women are exclusively female.'

"Vice President Harris ignored the plea of women who want a leader who would stand for women's sports and women's dignity. Christian women, especially, showed up tonight to demand a change in direction.

"We demand a return to common sense. We want to put our children and our families first. We want economic prosperity, our border fixed to uphold our national safety, and we want clear support for Israel.

"American women rejected the woke nonsense that has hurt our country so much. And today they voted for a leader to lead that effort. A leader to put America first and make it great again: Donald J. Trump. This is a win for every American, no matter their political persuasion."

Governor Glenn Youngkin Statement on the 2024 General Election

RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin today issued the following statement on the 2024 General Election: 

"Congratulations to the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, and Vice President-elect JD Vance. The American people have spoken overwhelmingly to return common sense, strength, and leadership back to the White House. Through the Trump presidency, we will pave the way for an economic revival, a secure border, and a stronger America on the world stage. 

"As we await the final results in the 7th Congressional District, I'd like to congratulate Senator Tim Kaine, Congressman Rob Wittman, Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, Congressman Bobby Scott, Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan, Congressman-elect John McGuire, Congressman Ben Cline, Congressman Don Beyer, Congressman Morgan Griffith, Congressman-elect Suhas Subramanyam, and Congressman Gerry Connolly on their victories. I want to thank every candidate, regardless of party, who stepped up in the name of service to the Commonwealth. Public service is a sacrifice, and we must always be grateful to those willing to make it. This was a hard fought election, now it's time to set aside partisanship and go to work for Virginians. 

"All Virginians should be proud of the way we conducted this election. We know the election was fair and secure. In Virginia, we took concrete steps to protect our election process and Virginians know that they can have faith in our election results because we have paper ballots, counting machines not connected to the internet, strong chain of custody requirements, secure drop boxes, and most importantly – the cleanest voter rolls in America. I'd like to thank Susan Beals and the Department of Elections, our local registrars, and all of our poll workers and election staff who volunteered their time," said Governor Glenn Youngkin.

Immigration Reform Law Institute: IRLI Statement on Presidential Election Results

Trump's election "an opportunity to roll back the catastrophic damage that has been done after four years of lawlessness and chaos."

WASHINGTON—The following is a statement from the Immigration Reform Law Institute on the 2024 presidential election results:   "The American people have spoken clearly that they want secure borders and for the immigration laws of our land to be enforced. The election of President-elect Trump to another term is an opportunity to roll back the catastrophic damage that has been done after four years of lawlessness and chaos.   "The anti-borders movement, funded by billionaires and supported by political and media figures at the highest levels, will not accept this outcome as a rejection of their reckless and cynical agenda. They will work nonstop to thwart the wishes of the American people with frivolous lawsuits, sanctuary policies, bureaucratic resistance and more.   "As it did in Donald Trump's first term, the Immigration Reform Law Institute will deploy its litigation team which includes a network of attorneys throughout the land to counter this effort to further weaken the country. We will support and defend the policies of the incoming administration that enforce our laws to make America safer, stronger and more prosperous."

Federation for American Immigration Reform: Ending the Border Crisis Central to Trump’s Election

Voters Give Trump a Mandate to Act Day One, Says FAIR 

(Washington, D.C., November 6, 2024) Four years of dangerous policies that touched off the largest wave of illegal immigration in American history were a key reason why voters returned Donald Trump to office in yesterday's election. Voters loudly and clearly demanded that our leaders secure the border and end, once and for all, the Biden-Harris administration's abuse of our laws allowing millions of illegal aliens to enter the country. Beginning on January 20, he will have a mandate from the American people to make good on those promises.

"The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) looks forward to working with the incoming administration to bring real security to our borders, safety to our communities and alleviate the social and fiscal burdens imposed on Americans by the destructive immigration policies of the Biden-Harris administration," stated Dan Stein, president of FAIR.

"We call upon the Trump-Vance administration to immediately restart construction of the border wall – approved by Congress in 2006 – but summarily halted by the current administration immediately in 2021. The new administration must also take decisive steps to restore effective policies that discourage illegal aliens from attempting to reach the U.S. border. These include reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy and international agreements that require asylum-seekers to request protection in the first safe country they arrive in, rather than waiting until they reach our borders. At the same time, the administration must send a clear signal that people caught entering the country illegally will be detained and deported, not released into the country.

"Equally important, the Trump-Vance administration must immediately terminate illegal parole programs, through which the outgoing administration allowed millions of inadmissible aliens to enter the country, and revoke parole for those who should not have received it," continued Stein.

"In addition to halting the influx of illegal migrants to the country, the Trump-Vance administration must turn its attention to reducing the number of illegal aliens living here, now estimated to be at least 17 million. During the campaign, President Trump pledged to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to enforce the rule of law and remove people who are in the country illegally. But he must also direct ICE to conduct worksite enforcement investigations of companies that displace American workers and exploit low-wage illegal aliens.

"When it assumes office in January, the Trump-Vance administration will also have a historic mandate from the voters to work with Congress to pass strong legislation to ensure that our immigration laws are enforced and our humanitarian policies are not abused. Enacting H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, passed by the House of Representatives in 2023 but ignored by the Senate, must be a top priority for the new administration.

"The American people understand that there are no quick fixes to years of neglecting immigration enforcement and the deliberate sabotage of those laws over the past four years. At the same time, they fully expect the Trump-Vance administration to take decisive action to restore order to our borders and ensure that our immigration laws are respected and enforced," concluded Stein. 

Thomas D. Klingenstein: The Men vs. Women Election

By Peachy Keenan The trends are clear: young men are veering right; young women are veering left in dramatic numbers. All through the election, women favored Kamala by large percentages, and men did likewise for Trump. This trend is all but certain to continue. In fact, the gap is likely to widen into an unbridgeable canyon. But what if I told you that the political gender gap in America was not strictly about gender? Well, for women, I think it is. Women have been conditioned to fear and distrust men, and many have had bad experiences with men in their own lives that they project onto any man who wants to "be in charge." A female leader is emotionally more comforting, less scary. They're seeking rule by Mother Hen, not by rooster. But what about young men? Is it actually the case that young men will only vote for men? Or is there something else at work here? The latest talking point on the culture war, and the election, is that men, especially America's errant chads and bros, want no part of a Kamala Harris presidency. But can you blame them? They are, as Michelle Obama scolded in her one Harris campaign appearance, the problem. They don't care about abortion as much as women do. They're rapists, and some, presumably, are good people. But only if they vote for Kamala. Voting for Kamala Harris is the only way to show the world you are not a woman-hating Nazi fascist. Can anyone say "deplorable"? We've seen all this before...

Read More

Thomas D. Klingenstein: Why the Recent Vice-Presidential Debate Matters

By Nicole Kiprilov In the days following last week's vice-presidential debate, there has been a barrage of polling and commentary focused on how the debate does not matter. While it is true that, historically and statistically, vice-presidential debates do little to shift public opinion, this particular debate between Vance and Walz is different in three important ways. First, the debate showed that Vance complements Trump in a way that expands the ticket's vision for America. This is important because Americans ultimately vote for a vision. Second, the debate is taking place in the context of unprecedented political times, which puts more emphasis on every public forum the candidates engage in, including last week's debate. Third, both Harris and Walz, since becoming a ticket, have given the fewest number of interviews and press conferences out of any presidential duo in history. This fact increases the significance of the debate as one of the few significant ways Americans can learn about the little-known Walz...

Read More

Tomorrow: Senator Bryce Reeves to speak in Madison on October 15th

Team Miyares: Miyares Weekly Roundup

30 Years of TRIAD On Friday, AG Miyares celebrated the 30th Anniversary of TRIAD in Virginia in Williamsburg at the annual TRIAD Conference. TRIAD is a program dedicated to improving relationships between communities, senior citizens, and law enforcement that protects, serves, and empowers Virginia's seniors.  "TRIAD's success is a testament to what happens when state and local groups come together to safeguard our communities. As Virginia's senior population continues to grow, so too will our efforts to protect them." –Attorney General Miyares SEE THIS YEAR'S TRIAD AWARD WINNERS HERE

Miyares Settles With Marriott After Data Breach On Wednesday, AG Miyares announced a $52 million multistate settlement with Marriott International Inc. following the conclusion of an investigation into a large multi-year data breach of one of its reservation databases. In addition to the settlement, Marriott has agreed to strengthen its data security practices and provide certain consumer protections in the future.  "Businesses that collect sensitive data from consumers have a duty to safeguard it and prevent access by unauthorized parties. I am pleased that we were able to reach a fair and reasonable settlement to address the violations of law and restore consumers' confidence that their personal information is being adequately safeguarded." –Attorney General Miyares LEARN MORE HERE   Miyares: The Law Should Protect, Not Terrorize, Citizens Hear the Miyares Family's story firsthand from the A.G.'s hero–his mom.

Derrick Max: Your October 13, 2024 Sunday Summary: Virginia Polls, Spanberger's Unfair Social Security Plan, Car Tax, WMATA, China Buys TJ High School Model, Election Security, VMSDEP...and more.

1.) In the Richmond Times Dispatch, political scientist Mark Rozell reiterated the point I made last week that early voting appears to be more robust in Republican leaning areas. However, early voting remains lower than four years ago, which could mean less enthusiasm for both candidates. The most recent poll I could find from Christopher Newport University has V.P. Kamala Harris up by 11 points over former President Donald Trump among likely voters in Virginia. Dwayne Yancey of Cardinal News makes the interesting point that polls show the concerns of independent voters match those of Republicans and could impact the outcome in Virginia. I'll let you decide if Virginia is in play…but votes count, polls don't. 2.) Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger argued that job changing federal workers are denied their full Social Security benefits. While surely good campaign rhetoric, Andrew G. Biggs from the American Enterprise Institute wrote for our Jefferson Journal that her argument fails to understand how Social Security works and her proposed fix would unfairly give job switchers funds they did not earn. Worse, her proposal would bankrupt Social Security almost a year earlier for everyone. Spanberger's bill shows a lack of leadership on an important issue to all Virginians. 3.) On "car tax day," our Kimberly Pinter and Callahan Burton wrote about the inconsistent way the car tax is calculated, how lower income areas pay higher effective car tax rates, and how former Governor Gilmore's effort to end the car tax needs to happen.   4.) Jeff Schapiro of the  Richmond Times Dispatch joined our call for a serious fix of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority (WMATA or Metro), but opted to support a new regional government with taxing authority to provide Metro with needed funds. The truth is WMATA is financially broken -- and just reported that 70 percent of its bus riders don't even pay their fare! Why should taxes from families in downstate Virginia bail out this system, when riders aren't even willing to pay? 5.) Governor Youngkin is looking into a National Review report that the intellectual property behind the once highly successful Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology has been sold to a Chinese Communist Party entity who has copied the school's curriculum, syllabi, and floor plans to create twenty "Thomas Schools" in China. The $3.6 million payment from China was marked as "donations" -- but evidence suggests the payments were contractual to secure rights to clone the schools.   6.) Sadly, academic excellence has been slipping at Thomas Jefferson High School, as reported by James Bacon. Since 2018-19 SOL advanced pass rates have fallen by 43% in math and 48.8% in science. The number of National Merit semifinalists has fallen from 157 in 2020 to 81 for 2025. Thomas Jefferson High School has dropped from being the top high school in the country, to now being ranked 14th. My guess is the CCP did not purchase TJ's new relaxed admissions criteria.    7.) Governor Youngkin and the Board of Elections are caught between a rock and a hard place, with Republicans saying that Youngkin's Executive Order 35, which purged 6,303 non-citizen from the voting rolls, is not enough, while Democrats and the DOJ have filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Alexandria to stop any more changes in the voter rolls. Governor Youngkin has been expressing concerns about the threat to democracy posed by non-citizen voting. I get plenty of mail on both sides of this debate whenever I state my belief that Virginia's elections have been and remain secure. I do think mail in voting, extended early voting, and the death of in-person "day of voting" increases risk. But, the real threat to fair elections is our biased media…and the growth of censorship by social media moguls.    8.) A new report on the Virginia Military Survivors and Dependents Education Program puts this program that pays tuition for dependents of service members killed during service back in the lap of the General Assembly only months after they balked on much needed changes to this program last session. The chart below shows that as the General Assembly expanded the definition of disability, relaxed the residency rules, included the dependents of all members who died during military service instead of just those who died in combat, the size of this program has exploded. Virginia has one of the most generous programs for Gold Star families and the General Assembly and Governor need to muster the political courage to make reforms as suggested in this report or this program will continue to grow beyond what the Commonwealth can afford.

9.) Another new report to the Virginia General Assembly by the Joint Legislative Audit & Review Commission warned that seven Virginia colleges and universities should be monitored for risk due to declining enrollment, including the University of Mary Washington, Virginia State University, Radford University, Longwood University, Christopher Newport University, UVA Wise, and Norfolk State University. None appear to be in immediate danger of closing. The schools at highest risk relied most heavily on state funding. Coincidence?

10.) Sweet Briar College is in its own fight for survival as the college's President and a group of disgruntled alumni are battling over the question of "what is a woman?" President Hutson is defending their new policy that attendees must be "born and live as a woman." Opponents of this policy are encouraging students to find new schools and to not donate to the school until they allow transgender females. Supporters are threatening to pull funding if they change the policy. Sadly, the existence of Sweet Briar College, who has resisted enrolling men since its opening, hangs in the balance over this disagreement.    11.) Education Secretary Aimee Guidera celebrated the success of another lab school. This one being run cooperatively by Blue Ridge Community College, James Madison University and Rockingham County Public Schools. This lab school allows students in grades 9 to 12 to explore career opportunities and training in a unique half day, hands-on program.    12.) The Wall Street Journal discussed Virginia resident, and gambling recovery counselor, Sean Fournia who has lost approximately $500,000 from gambling and is now a gambling recovery counselor. Starting out with lottery scratch offs, moving to race tracks, then illegal bookies, to skills games -- his path of addiction has followed the growth of gambling in Virginia. The Virginia Mercury highlighted the concern of problem gambling, particularly sports betting, amongst men under 25. They report that betting on football nationwide should bring in $35 billion in legal bets.   13.) A great Reagan joke told to Reynolds Metal Company employees in Richmond Virginia is a reminder that government control of industry leads to long wait times...enjoy!

In Freedom,