On Saturday November 7 the nation’s mainstream media, not known for its impartiality, took it upon itself to declare victory for the Biden-Harris ticket. (Or is it the Harris-Biden ticket?) 

In New York City, home to countless young people, hoots and hollers resounded in the streets as hordes of protesters following social media made their way to various assembly points for joint demonstrations of glee. 

For those of us who have seen quite a few presidential elections, this last one was a first: two septuagenarians battling it out with well-financed campaigns fueled by invective and vitriol. 

President Donald Trump, with vigor and determination, hopped from key state to key state to secure the votes needed for victory, but failed to run on his impressive record of accomplishments, which included a near-record-low unemployment rate of 3.5 percent in the final months of 2019.

The staggeringly high and rising trade deficit with China was finally reined in through tariffs and other measures, causing it to fall by a significant 21 percent in 2019 and a further 15 percent in the first nine months of this year. This solid achievement somehow never came up.

The North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico was revised and updated; the new USMCA or US-Mexico-Canada Agreement should contribute to more equitable trade relationships among the three partners.

Europeans were aghast that President Trump urged our allies to pony up more funds for their defense rather than depend on the United States to foot a disproportionate part of the bill for NATO. The Germans, despite the parlous state of their military apparatus, were most reluctant to tap into their budget surplus, even for improving their own security. 

Various peace and business agreements between Israel and certain Arab states, fostered by the Trump Administration, were unprecedented and should have received more accolades. 

Measures taken on the social front were bold and solidly pro-life. Trump was the first president to attend the annual March for Life (in 2020), giving personal witness to defending life from conception to natural death. 

Comparison of the Trump record with the Biden-Harris Democratic Party manifesto could not be starker.

On the matter of life, the differences are irreconcilable. Catholic Joe Biden, during his near half-century presence in Washington politics, has shifted from a defender of life to a proponent of the full “reproductive rights/women’s right to choose” agenda of his party’s platform, which also includes government funding of Planned Parenthood and the United Nations Population Fund as well as permitting abortion at any stage of gestation.

The staunchest Democratic proponent of the abortion agenda, Kamala Harris, will long be remembered for her fierce 2018 Judiciary Committee questioning of Judge Brian Beuscher as to whether he knew before joining that the Knights of Columbus did not believe in a woman’s right to choose. Her angry facial expression remains memorable—as will her incredible ignorance of a long-standing benevolent Catholic organization. 

A One-term or a One-year Presidency?

Presumed President-elect Joe Biden celebrates his 78th birthday on November 20. As the oldest American president to assume office, at 82 he would be unlikely to run for a second term. But can he endure a full term? Well known for his verbal gaffes, there have been many “mis-speaks” that the media has hidden from the public. Given this vulnerability, how will Biden perform at presidential news conferences without a teleprompter?

Vice-President elect Kamala Harris, a diehard socialist and abortion zealot, is already chomping at the bit to replace Biden (and erase Trump’s record). Witness a few mis-speaks of “Harris Biden”—by both of them. Should Biden’s mental acuity further degenerate, or should a corruption scandal (albeit unlikely) force him from office, a hardline leftist would become the first woman president of the United States.

Supporters have chosen their narrative. It is likely that the cheering hooters on November 7 had the 56-year-old Harris more in mind than the antediluvian Biden.