When Americans woke up this morning (if they actually went to bed), not much had changed. We still didn't have the answer to the one question everyone is waiting for -- and maybe we won't for some time. But we still had answers -- and not many the Left will like. Because even though we can't announce the next president, we can declare a few losers, and the people who counted out conservatives should top every list.
Tuesday night was not the epic collapse of Donald Trump and the Republican Party that the media had been dreaming about. It was, however, the last gasp of credibility for the national polling industry. Anyone who gave the big firms a pass after the embarrassment of 2016 will not make that mistake after this year, when the fairytale prophecies of 17-point leads for Joe Biden in competitive states like Wisconsin turned out to be more fools' gold. Even the morning of the race, when some survey houses were starting to flip states to Trump, the New York Times stubbornly insisted -- with 70 percent certainty -- that Biden would win Florida. Other mainstream pollsters conjured ridiculous numbers for Senate Democrats, giving the GOP only between a five to 20-percent chance of maintaining control. Wednesday morning, with five seats in play, Republicans were leading in every one.
Whatever their reasons -- whether they didn't want to validate Trump's popularity, or they wanted to suppress the vote, or they're so blinded by their hatred for this president that they can't count straight -- the polling industry had a major reckoning Tuesday. And their survival will depend a lot on whether they can set aside their blatantly partisan agendas and adapt, like Trafalgar has, to the rapidly changing landscape. Americans don't trust the media, Tucker Carlson said emphatically, and they have good reason: they were wrong. "Is the polling industry dead? You know, I really hope so. [You have to be able to say] you screwed up, and you have to acknowledge it in order to get better. But we in the media are particularly good at pretending that there's some reason that we mislead our viewers or our readers -- and we really should stop doing that because too much is at stake. And the first way to fix it is by holding the people who screwed up accountable."
Obviously, there's a great deal to be concerned about as we head into this election overtime -- but one thing that shouldn't worry anyone is the media's framing of the outcome. If they were wrong before, why trust them now? In the meantime, there's a lot for the conservative movement to cheer. Republicans -- despite Big Tech's censorship, fake news's bias, and the polling industry's epic failure -- made history in ways no one expected. Not only was Tuesday not the "blue wave," we kept hearing it would be, but the GOP made incredible inroads in communities that Democrats have taken for granted for years. In astounding ways, the Republican Party platform resonated across ethnic and racial lines with numbers conservatives haven't seen in a half-century. Not since 1960 has a Republican president won such a huge slice of the non-white vote.
"Whether Trump wins or loses, he proved that Republicans -- including a Republican who is staunchly opposed to illegal immigration -- can win a big chunk of the Latino vote." Not only did he outperform expectations in Florida, but Obama's vice president lost ground among Hispanics in states like Georgia and Ohio. "News flash, Democrats," NRO's Jim Geraghty writes, "Bernie Sanders's open embrace of the label 'socialism' is killing you among these demographics!" The last thing Cuban-Americans and other Hispanics want is to watch this country become the kind of dictatorship they fled. They also have a natural alliance with conservatives on key social issues, which only makes the political transition for Latinos that much easier. Donald Trump may have single-handedly changed the diversity of the party, and the Left's hand-wringing proves it.
Politico put it the most bluntly. "Tuesday was an abject disaster for Democrats in Washington," the outlet warned. "To imagine the amount of soul searching and explaining the party will have to do after Tuesday is absolutely dizzying. The infighting will be bloody -- as it should be. We fielded text after text from Hill Democrats Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning with existential questions about their leadership and the direction of their party."
That's not to say that conservatives -- especially the church -- couldn't stand some long hard looks in the mirror. The fact that this election is so close, after all that President Trump has accomplished for life, faith, family, and freedom, ought to be a wake-up call for believers everywhere. When you consider the extremism that Joe Biden represents, it should be deeply troubling that he's within striking distance of the White House. We have major work to do in the church if our nation is this divided over a radical agenda that should be a non-starter for any patriotic, God-fearing American.
Meanwhile, as the counting continues, so must our prayers. As every map and ballot extension tells us, this race is far from over. And while we do see a path forward for the president, so much depends on the integrity and honesty of the process. Later tonight, at 8:00 p.m. (ET) on PrayVoteStand.org, I'll be hosting a special time of prayer was we seek God's mercy and guidance. Join me as we pray for transparency, for vigilance and caution on the part of election officials, for corruption to be exposed, and for peace to reign throughout our great nation.
