Americans have suffered tremendously the past five years. Starting with the Chinese COVID virus, our economy was ravaged and our rights trampled with ridiculous draconian restrictions on our basic liberties. Then after the highly irregular 2020 presidential election, the Biden administration flung open our borders to an unrestrained invasion of illegal immigrants and embarked on ludicrous inflationary policies. Americans found making ends meet difficult and safety elusive.

The country was on the wrong track. Americans felt it and it was reflected in polling. However, presidential polling for months kept warning the election was on a knife’s edge. Nonetheless, President Trump won the popular vote and a commanding win in the electoral college – giving him a mandate.

On one hand, all the policy indicators pointed to a change election and no party in power was ever reelected with such negative metrics and high disapproval numbers. On the other hand, nearly half the country voted for the status quo to continue the current palpable malaise. With the indisputable decline of the nation and a lackluster arguably unqualified candidate in Kamala Harris, why did do many Americans still vote for Harris?

The short answer is the intellectually and morally bankrupt mainstream media misled the American electorate about both Harris and Trump. They propped up Harris as a new dynamic visionary leader and misrepresented her policies, particularly her flip-flops. They also maligned Trump as a mass murderer and wannabe dictator with their incessant nonsensical comparisons to Hitler. Fortunately, most of the country rejected their deceptions, but what about the other almost half who fell vulnerable to their cynical dissembling?

Sadly, Democrats really don’t know Trump because they have never heard anything about the real Donald Trump. The mainstream media ignores his brilliance, genuineness, and kindness, but Trump connected directly with voters of every stripe and station at numerous rallies and in many alternate mediums. The Democrat Media Complex is still flummoxed that any Americans would support Trump, much less love him, but what they miss is that Trump deeply loves this country, and he dearly loves the people, and the American people love him back.

A hard lesson for Democrats. If you want the American people to support you or even love you, you must support and love them first. Trump does! Democrats will protest that they indeed love Americans more because they want to meet their every need and are always trying to spoil their subjects with more free stuff. But like weak parents, they confuse material things with appropriate attention and boundaries.

Too many Americans want free stuff so they can shirk responsibility, and the liberal ruling elite pity them as incapable, handicapped citizens who can only survive if the government provides for them — that is what remains of the Democrat Party base (satirized at RenewAmerica as resembling a 1950's dance party that is exceptionally goofy: editor's note). However, average Americans just want opportunity and fairness — the freedom to choose their own way and provide for themselves. Increasing his support across all ethnic and racial groups, Trump has shown that liberty is a universal concept sought by all.

Individualism and independence are what makes Americans great, so Americans are concerned about open borders, inflation, feckless foreign policy, weak defense, wasteful government spending, perversion in education and sports, and oppressive, overreaching government power. All these issues impede or interfere with Americans' access to opportunity and fairness. Trump listened to and addressed these concerns, while Harris dismissed them and simply said she will care for you and protect you from orange man bad.

While the nation breathes a sigh of relief that this contentious election is over, Democrats are showing again why they lost in their bitter, extreme review of their defeat. Unfortunately, most progressive politicians, press, and pundits are not reconsidering their errors in policy or not listening to voter concerns, but rather are blaming Americans for the Democrats' loss because, to them, we are intrinsically racist, sexist, and plain stupid for not acceding to their will. They despise average Americans who do not agree with them.

It NEVER occurs to Democrats – especially leftists – that they are wrong; it is always the fault of dumb, bigoted voters. Tragically, that will keep our nation divided and impede Democrats from recovering and rehabbing themselves into a mainstream party again, but maybe Democrats will take a lesson from Trump.

Trump remade a stagnant Republican Party into a new broad-winning coalition of God-fearing hard-working Americans against the will of the Country Club Republican establishment. Democrats have an opportunity to liberate themselves from the extreme leftist wing of their party that has hijacked the former “party of the working man.” Republicans are relieved and optimistic over the election results, but Democrats may also find relief if they can shed the baggage of “identity politics.”

Pray we come together as a country to debate the issues and not each other.

“Beyond all these things, put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity” (Colossians 3:14).

Pete Riehm is a Navy Veteran, conservative activist, and columnist in south Alabama. Email him at peteriehm@bellsouth.net or read all his columns at http://www.renewamerica.com/.