Democrats aren’t the only ones who need a soul-searching

For better or worse, post-election analysis is now the country’s favorite sport. Wherever two or three Americans are gathered, there are at least a dozen reasons given for why Donald Trump won and Democrats got shellacked.

Among many, the most common is that Democrats need a good soul-searching over how they lost touch with the working class. I agree. Although the real questions is: How did Democrats do so much for working-class Americans — Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, child care, family medical leave act, collective bargaining, minimum wage, middle-class tax cuts, the Affordable Care Act and millions of new jobs under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (all of which Republicans opposed) — yet allow Republicans to brand them as the party of the elites? 

But that’s not the real issue. It’s not enough for Democrats to do some soul-searching about what’s wrong with their party. The problem is much bigger than that. It’s important for the American people to do some soul-searching about what’s wrong with us.  

It’s especially important to ask: What happened to our sense of values? Like me, you were probably instilled by your parents with a basic sense of what’s right and wrong, a set of values that was far more important than what political party we might someday belong to.  

That set of values isn’t hard to understand. It’s not low-brow or high-brow. It’s not based on any religion. It’s just good, every day, universal common sense. The way everybody should live. It includes basic principles like telling the truth; treating people decently; obeying the law; adhering to an accepted moral code; and loving your country. 

These are the basic, common values all of us grew up with and, in turn, taught our kids — all of which have been shattered and destroyed by Donald Trump. He told so many lies at every rally it was impossible to count them all. He insulted his opponents, both Democrat and Republican, with vile, racist and sexist names. He was tried and convicted for breaking the law by committing financial fraud, defamation and engaging in election fraud by covering up hush payments to a porn actress; he’s been accused of sexual assault by over two dozen women; and he sent an armed mob to attack the U.S. Capitol. 

But here’s what should really trouble us all. It’s not that Donald Trump trampled on the values we’ve lived by our entire lives. We don’t expect any better from him. What’s shocking is that over half the American people said they don’t care.  

They don’t care if Trump is a lying, lawless, crude, obscene, serial adulterer and convicted felon who tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power. They’re willing to forget all about that because…Why? They think he’ll lower the cost of a dozen eggs?  

To me, it was summed up best on TikTok by @sweeper698: “The reason I’m so heart-broken….is that it invalidates everything I have ever been taught about how I should live my life, and everything I tried to teach my kids. It’s an absolute betrayal to realize… that…over half of this country really doesn’t really value the notion of being kind, being generous, loving your neighbor, being accepting, having empathy, showing understanding, being truthful, being ethical in business, being sensible and level-headed.” 

That, my friends, is the real issue about what happened on Nov. 5, and one that should shake us all, Republican and Democrat. This was about more than losing an election. This was about losing our soul. 

Press is host of “The Bill Press Pod.” He is the author of “From the Left: A Life in the Crossfire.”