Jim Garlow: 23 Quick Thoughts on the Nov. 8 Election
Read Time: 6 Minutes 12 Seconds
Here are 23 quick thoughts on the Nov. 8, 2022 election, in no particular order, and most assuredly not exhaustive, but which came most readily to mind:
1. I told many people privately, and stated it once publicly on the World Prayer Network zoom call some weeks ago, that I felt that for eight months the Republicans were wrong in acting like they had already won the midterms. It seemed as if they were inebriated on the euphoria of the presumed great “red wave.” That is dangerous. Ronald Reagan said to always work as if you were way behind. He was right then. He is right now.
2. The red wave was a red ripple. I remember Nov. 1994 as if it were yesterday. That is what a red wave (or red tsunami?) looks and feels like, 2022 was not a “wave” at all. It was significant, but it was highly overstated by pollsters.
3. Pollsters (and consultants) are often wrong.
4. However, the move forward for the GOP was significant. Ousting Nancy Pelosi as Speaker is significant (assuming that happens). Very significant.
5. Is getting Kevin McCarthy in as Speaker of the House significant? I hope so. My choice would be, hands down, the brilliant and articulate Ohio Representative Jim Jordan. However, he has “offended” too many in “the GOP establishment,” thus he will not become Speaker. That is unfortunate. He can work and think circles around McCarthy. However, Jordan will be poised for a key committee chairmanship. That is good.
6. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel is going to need to drop his war with Donald Trump. That is unlikely.
7. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ stock just skyrocketed.
8. Due to that, many will want to throw former President Donald Trump under the proverbial bus. They are wrong. They underestimate his following. Tens of millions of “the deplorables” passionately follow him. GOP leadership better not discount that. The masses don’t like elites who ignore them.
9. Donald Trump—though possibly or likely robbed of the election (no, it’s not “the Big Lie”)—needs to stop focusing on it. That is not helping him. He has much to offer the party and the nation, so long as revenge is not his goal for running. What he has accomplished is astounding. He has sacrificed enormously for the nation. His policies while president are stunning. But he must cultivate the “servant” motif. He loves this country. He can do it.
10. The electorate, when polled, says “the nation is going in the wrong direction.” But strangely, they fail to vote accordingly. They say crime is out of control, but reelect many who have caused the problem. They say the border is a problem and yet reelect many who created the problem. They say they want parental empowerment, yet vote for those who have robbed them of the God-given role for parents. They claim they want election integrity (remember, many Democrats think Hillary won in 2016 and many Republicans think Trump won in 2020) but tolerate the same methods which—and party officials who—are part of the problem. The electorate needs to “connect the dots” for who can solve these problems.
11. Florida was the laughing stock of the nation with their hanging chads and dimpled ballots in 2000. But they cleaned up their act. They overhauled the election laws, getting things in order. They delivered the election results accurately and fast. So did Texas. Arizona (especially Maricopa County), Pennsylvania and several other states are quite the opposite. It is inexcusable to have to “wait till Friday” for a Tuesday election. That is not acceptable. Rule of thumb: Where the Democrats are in charge of the process, election problems occur. As a general rule, where Republicans are in charge of the process, it gets done properly. Photo IDs, one day of voting (with a few legitimate exceptions for absentee ballots) and paper ballots are what is needed to enhance honesty in elections and to reduce fraud. Democrats seem to not want to reduce fraud. They are happy with 29 persons being registered to an empty lot, or a 150 year old person miraculously casting a vote. (Those are actual accounts.) Their moral and ethical foundation appears to be, to a large extent, gone.
12. A respectable number of Blacks are shifting from D to R. Hispanics are shifting from D to R in significant numbers. Miami-Dade is stunning. That may be the biggest story of 2022.
13. Whereas the national overview is not as good as many hoped, the local elections—once those reports are fully in—are going to be overpoweringly encouraging. There will be hundreds of school boards who changed hands. The “mamma bear movement” and the rise of the grassroots (whom Hillary labeled as “the deplorables”), for conservative and biblical values, are still just beginning.
14. The GOP dramatically increased the number of women and minority candidates. The Democrats don’t know what to do with that. Their claim to being the party of “diversity” is gone.
15. The nation’s electorate does not yet realize that abortion is murder, the slaughter of innocents. And they do not grasp that God sees it all, and justice will someday come for that murder. The only remaining Democrat member of the House of Representatives who respects life in the womb is Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas. Some GOP members of Congress likewise seem to care little about the murder of innocent babies in the womb.
16. Every person who supports abortion needs to have the honesty to actually watch an abortion online. Once they view the mutilation and dismemberment of a baby, with no anesthesia, they—assuming they have a conscience—would immediately repent of their sin.
17. Speaking of sin, it is impossible once a person knows the truth of what abortion is, to call themselves an authentic Jesus-follower and still support the murder of preborn babies, and to support candidates who support the murder.
18. As I have noted before in my writings, 47 Republican members of the House of Representatives (that’s 22% including my Congressman) violated the Republican platform and voted, a few months ago, to accept that for which God destroyed Sodom. Once again, God sees all. He does not wink at sin.
19. Speaking of sin, it is impossible, once a person, knows the truth about homosexuality and so-called “transgenderism” (there is no such thing; one cannot “trans” from XX to XY or visa versa ), to call themselves an authentic Jesus-follower and still support that for which God destroyed Sodom and to violate God’s Genesis 2 declaration that He made us male and female.
20. It is best avoid clichés like “God is not through with America” or “Our best days are yet ahead.” It makes one sound trite and uninformed of the seriousness of this moment. When preachers or others say that, it generally means they are not sure what to say, but need an applause line. Be careful. Don’t use those phrases.
21. Even though it is true that God is in control, avoid dismissively saying “God is in control” as a line to use instead of careful analysis. Using that phrase is often a substitute for admitting the failure of the church to act like the church. The last thing we need now are worn out crowd pleasers. What is needed is prayer, fasting, declaring His Word, obedience to His Word, Holy Spirit-given strategy and Christians who know that prayer and fasting is always followed by action, real action, including governmental-political activism. Rather than chanting phrases, get informed and engaged.
22. I don’t know if America is under judgement or not. She might be. In fact, she likely is. But America is most certainly under discipline. The massive crime, economic and national security problems are directly related to the disappearance of a moral and ethical standard, that is, Judeo-Christian (biblical) values. One person wrote, “My take on the election is this: the bad news is that it’s going to have to get worse before it gets better. The ‘good’ news is that it’s going to get worse.” Those are sobering words. But be careful not to dismiss them too quickly.
23. Your hope remains in God. He will be here long after the Republican Party and Democrat Party are gone. He will be there long after America is gone. Put your hope in Him.
Dr Jim Garlow, along with his wife Rosemary Schindler Garlow, are the founders of Well Versed (www.WellVersedWorld.org), which brings biblical principles of governance to government leaders…and the people who elect them. Jim and Rosemary host the Sunday night and Wednesday night, 8pm EST, World Prayer Network.
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