For all of the kabillions of words/commentaries/analysis (up to and including paralysis)/etc. that have been discussed, debated, dissected and disagreed about since November 5th, the question remains pretty basic.
How, in the name of all things holy, did he get elected again?
The kabillions of words, etc that have been proffered in answer to that questioin since ten seconds after the election was called, meanwhile, actually boil down to a simple few, not at all difficult to comprehend.
He got elected....because she didn't.
No snarky, wise ass ba dum bump intended here. That's the bottom line, unvarnished "why" to the original question.
Garden variety 'no shit, Sherlock' stuff.
And that's not where the spotlight should be shining anyway.
It's the 'where and by who' of that answer that makes this particular election historically noteworthy.
Not to mention the stuff of hours of future fun playing Trivial Pursuit.
The "where" is Nashville, Tennessee.
The "by who"...is the late producer of a late country/pop music superstar.
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion.
For the purpose of context, it should be noted, at this point, for the benefit of those who are reading this but are not particularly aware of me, my writings and/or my political leanings that while I resist/reject/detest "labels" when it comes to those "leanings" (I subscribe to the mindset that human beings {for the most part} are far more complex as creatures go to be either 'one' or 'the other' in any kind of absolute way), I have, for all of my adult life, been more inclined to side with Democrats as opposed to Republicans.
The whys and wherefores are the stuff of another essay. Or perhaps the Pulitzer Prize winning book I've been composing in my head for, give or take, the last fifty years.
Suffice to say, if label me you must, then label me (D) and not (R).
That said, I would have voted for almost any other living, breathing Republican on the planet if it would have kept the Mar A Lago Mental Case from scoring a second lease on the big white condo at 1600 Pennsylvania.
And by "Republican", I mean old fashioned, committed (in the 'dedicated to" sense not the 'put em in the looney bin' sense) conservatives.
Reasonable, mature, intelligent, educated people, authentic public servants.
"Patriots" spoken as a word describing loyalty to country and "we, the people".
Not describing wretched worship to a single man.
A less than one 100th of a man, at that.
The Republican Party of Lincoln and Eisenhower...even Goldwater.
Hell, even Nixon.
And neither the spineless sycophant sellouts who spell GOP M-A-G-A....nor the mind numbing MAGA myrmidon(ald)s themselves...
Taylor-Greene, Boebert, Gaetz, et.al....you know...the usual list of white trash, sex offenders and/or passengers on the short bus.
But I digress.
It's time to declare disappointment when it comes to the (D) and their deftness at defeat.
And while second guessing has been the only daily soup being served up for almost a month at this writing and second guessing accomplishes nothing except pouring salt, it's my commentary here, so I claim commentator's rights by way of saying that when it came to the Harris candidacy, from the git, I (paraphrasing both Han and Leia) had "a bad feeling about this".
For all the admitted energy, enthusiasm and, okay, "joy" that she and her Minnesota main man originally lit up in what had become a pretty dark election year, there were some obvious, even mentioned, 'yellow lights' that were minimized...even ignored...so that what resulted looked like "hitting the ground running"....
...but come November 5th, turned out to be only... hitting the ground.
Some of the more obvious yellow...
...the failure of Joe to get out of the way sooner cost the (D) precious time to make the case that Kamala had the 'right stuff', regardless of who she was up against...
...the silly, naive, strategically FUBAR notion that it was "Kamala's turn" simply because she was Vice President fatally dismissed the very strong possibility that there were several Democrats with an even stronger skill set...coupled with an ability to make that "right stuff" case in the very limited time available...
...pitting a woman, and a woman of color, at that, against Trump for the second time (and we all know how that turned out the first time) turned a deaf ear and an already blind eye to an uncomfortable, inconvenient truth....sexism and racism have, at best, been held at bay since the 50's and 60's but are still malignancies alive and functioning and doing their best to do their worst in the American bloodstream...
The list...like the beat...goes on.
But other points found on that list, as with those three examples, are arguable. They rightly fall into the category of "maybe/maybe not", think "Schrodinger's Cat" and throw in bumper stickers and yard signs.
Here's a few "X" factors that are hard to discount.
...the infamous "The View" appearance in which, when asked what she would do differently as VP within the Biden Administration, given the chance for a do-over....replied, with a slight stumble, "I can't think of a single thing". It doesn't take a Pol-Sci major to read that as one of a few critically damaging possibilities...
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1) an incredible naivete, perception being reality, in failing to see that millions would see that answer as a way of saying "we've made no mistakes and would do everything the same way over again if the chance arose"...a statement that may, or may not, be literally valid and/or true...but a well known effective means of committing political suicide....voters are never happy or satisfied....
POP QUIZ...when is the last time you heard media use the phrase "..voters are happy and satisfied"?
...okay...when is the last time you heard media use the phrase "...voters are angry and frustrated.."?
There you go.
Voters don't vote for change.
They vote against the status quo.
2) an unwillingness to say anything that might be taken as disrespectful to Joe Biden. A noble, gracious, kind and compassionate thing to do.
And as it turns (turned) out....an absolute sure fire vote killer.
Status Quo. Voters. Against.
This ain't rocket surgery.
3) and probably the straw that broke the (D)onkey's back....
At the outset of the "Accidental Candidacy" in the swirl of all that energy, enthusiasm and, okay, "joy", there was much talk from the Kamala Korner about "moving forward" "looking ahead" "not going back", all quick shot, high loft "sound byte catch phrases" that implied, even pre-promised, that the "status quo" was about to be bitch slapped away with exciting new programs and advancements, an end to homelessness, great healthcare, prescriptions people could actually afford, safer streets, new state of the art public transportation, a return to life changing space exploration...an effective, efficient and compassionate solution to America's immigration problems.
...name your wish and chances are it might have been part of the grand plan that was being called "moving forward" until the real plan could make its national debut, saturating TV and radio and online, the one she would talk about in speech after speech and ad after ad...detailed, easy to understand, easy to get excited about, easy to make it easy to pull that lever and/or push that machine button next to the name "Harris"....
but...somewhere...after only a week or two....those speeches and ads weren't hardly at all about those details and those advancements...and that grand plan....
...in their place there was the familiar, true to a T, but exhaustingly overplayed tune...with lyrics we've been hearing over and over and over...and over....for almost a decade now....
"...Trump is unqualified/Trump is a danger
Trump hates democracy/Vance is even stranger
Trump is a felon / Vance a perv liar
Trump is a narcissist / Who's set America on fire.."
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For the love of God, Sam....please, don't play it again.
Not that it's not all true...accurate....irrefutable.
But that when it comes to changing the minds of people voting for, or thinking of voting for, him....
IT DOESN'T WORK.
If it worked, Hillary would, come January, be celebrating the eighth anniversary of becoming the first female President of the United States.
How, in the name of all things holy, did he get elected again?
He got elected...because she didn't.
And why didn't she?
That brings us to the late producer of the late country/pop superstar.
Larry Butler was a successful musician, born in the 40's, a member of the successful 60's pop band, The Gentrys ("Keep On Dancin').
In the early 60's, he moved to Nashville where his piano was an integral part of such hits as Bobby Goldsboro's schlock super hit "Honey" and Conway Twitty's 'signature' success "Hello, Darlin'.
From there, a second career as producer/songwriter, crafting hit singles and albums by such noteworthys, among others, as Johnny Cash, John Denver, Debby Boone, Don McClean and Tammy Wynette.
In 1977, he brought a song to a 60's pop hit maker whose pop stardom had begun to fade a bit, leaving him "between gigs", so to speak. That song, and Larry Butler's production of its recording, put that 60's success on the path to a second career, one that took him to international superstardom.
The song?
"Lucille".
That country/pop megastar?
Kenny Rogers.
I met Larry in the mid 1980's, during my own checkered past as a songwriter/producer, interviewing him for a country music trade magazine for which I occasionally freelanced.
Sitting in his plush, but modest, second floor office on Music Row, I remember Larry to be cordial, clever, a witty, wise and entertaining interview subject, chock full of music and memories and musings.
Amidst and among some wonderful anecdotes of life in the studio and life on the road, he offered up more than one insightful observation about the nature of the song business. One in particular I recall clearly all these years later.
Knowing that I was also a songwriter/producer and respectful of that, given the very wide gap between his success and my own to that point, he graciously asked "how it was going" on my own quest for fame, fortune and multiple Grammys. I told him of some minor successes I had had to date and casually mentioned my clear grasp of the obvious...that it was a "jungle out there" when it came to getting songs heard, let alone accepted and recorded, by publishers, producers and/or artists.
He smilingly acknowledged the obvious and my clear grasp of it. Then he leaned a little forward and in an almost 'winking big brother' posture, shared the advice I can still quote verbatim to this day.
"...let me tell you something to remember....and this goes for publishers...producers...artists...all of em...doesn't matter which or who....when you pitch them your songs...."
..he totally had my attention....
"....they're not listening and looking for a reason to say yes...."
...I was hangin' on each wise word...
"....they're looking...for a reason to say no...."
At first, I thought that was it. But I could tell there was an important punchline coming.....
"....so......", dramatic, while impish, pause....
"...don't give 'em one..."
Obviously, I've never forgotten that teriffic tidbit. And, just as obviously, have also never forgotten Larry Butler.
We talked music that day. There was no mention of politics. So I have no idea where he stood or which political party he called his own.
I do know now, though, something that didn't occur to me all those years ago.
Larry Butler was, among his many other accomplishments, quite savvy politics wise.
And history might some day correctly offer that it's a shame that Kamala Harris and the Democratic Party of 2024 didn't have Larry available for their war room.
Why didn't she get elected?
Because at least tens of thousands of voters who made the difference between electing her...and rejecting her...weren't looking for a reason to say "yes".
They were looking for a reason to say "no".
Judging from the outcome, it's pretty much a foregone....
...that she gave them one.
