I am immensely relieved at Donald Trump’s victory. I was quite worried about it, so much so that I did something I’ve never done before. I volunteered to go out door knocking in the final weekends before the election.

At the tender age of 77, I joined up with Trump Force 47 to walk the Nashua neighborhoods and persuade people to vote Republican. The Republicans had put together a list of voters who were not yet registered or who had not voted in recent election, but who might be supportive of Trump.  The job of the volunteer was to take a piece of the list, contact the voters on it, and urge them to go vote, not just for Trump, but for the entire Republican slate.

It was interesting.  I got no answer at most of the doors on my list, but I also got no discourtesy from anybody either.  Interest in this election was through the roof.  I didn’t find anybody who wasn’t planning to vote, and I found only one voter who seemed to lean towards Trump but claimed to be undecided.  I was not able to persuade her.  Mostly the people I found knew how they would vote.

I approached one house with my clipboard and my pile of Trump pamphlets visible, and the lady at the door took one look, and before I could open my mouth she said, “No. No.”  So I said, “Ok. Have a nice day.” The few on my list who were opposed to voting for Trump were not unfriendly.  They just made it clear that they were not interested in hearing my pitch.

One elderly man said he would vote the Republican ticket, except for Trump. I spoke with him for a while, but I could see there was no persuading him, so I shook his hand, wished him well, and went on my way. The easiest conversations were at places with Trump-Vance signs all over. I rang the doorbells anyway to say hello and remind them to vote Republican all the way down the ballot. Some said they would, others said they already had.

Then there was a surprising encounter. I was walking toward a guy and his dog who were walking toward me.  It was in the downtown section. By this time I was holding my Trump pamphlets under the clipboard where they were less likely to be seen. I thought that when I got to the next door I’d be able to get a word in before being dismissed. But as we passed each other he said, “Hey, can I have one of those?” His accent was recognizably Spanish. I gave him a pamphlet, some cards, and a bumper sticker. I introduced myself and asked his name.  We talked a while, then I shook his hand and we parted. I could kick myself because I had lost my pen, but I thought I would be able to remember his name. I didn’t, and I didn’t think to put him into my phone contacts. He is someone I’d have like to get involved with the Nashua Republicans. It’s a new party.

In New Hampshire, Kelly Ayotte won the governor’s race in a blowout, but Trump lost. I had been hopeful, but it turned out my elderly gentleman who planned to vote Republican except for Trump seemed to reflect New Hampshire.  Republicans took the governorship and increased their majorities in both houses of the legislature, while the tops of the ballot went Democrat. Nationwide, Trump won, attracting more minorities than any Republican in decades.

Us door knockers were also asked if we would volunteer to be poll watchers. I chose to hold a sign for a few hours at the Ward 3 polling place instead. But having more poll watchers on hand would cut down on the chances that there would be cheating. James O’Keefe, formerly Project Veritas and now O’Keefe Media Group (OMG, how appropriate), posted a warning on X that his group would be undercover and filming at locations in Pennsylvania. I haven’t heard if they actually did that. In any event, I haven’t heard many complaints about election cheating.

Fox called the election for Trump at 1:19 a.m. I’ve been impatient to see what the final popular vote total will be. So far Trump is ahead, and apparently will remain ahead even if all the remaining votes go to Harris. So far, it looks like there are 10 million fewer voters – excuse me, fewer ballots – than in 2020, give or take, and as we close in a final vote count, it doesn’t appear that they’re going to turn up.

Which leads me to a big unmentionable reason why Trump won.

There were a lot of good reasons that voters had for turning out for Trump. The economy, the border, inflation, crime, the forever wars, the boys in girls sports, locker rooms, and bathrooms to name a few. But Trump voters turned out in record numbers in fear that the 2024 election would be the last legitimate election in America if they lost. Democrats would continue flooding the country with illegal aliens with the ultimate intent of making them Democrat voters. They would strive to eliminate any voter ID requirements, they would actively oppose cleanup of the voter rolls, and they would promote universal mail-in voting. In short Democrats would create an environment where cheating would be easy to do and impossible to detect, thus preserving their option to steal any future elections.

Democracy was on the ballot, but not in the way that Kamala Harris said it was.

While legacy media have been ignoring this story, “Make it too big to rig” was our rallying cry, and with the grace of God, we pulled it off. There is hope for the world yet.

Since Trump’s election things have suddenly turned in a less chaotic direction. Qatar has kicked out the Hamas leaders hiding there. Hamas has called for an end to its war. Vladimir Putin has said he’s ready to talk about ending the war in Ukraine, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy has already spoken with Trump about it. Putin has also said he is not abandoning the U.S. dollar. A caravan of migrants from Honduras dissolved before reaching the U.S. border.  Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams will stop providing food vouchers to illegal aliens. Mexico’s top diplomat said Mexico will continue measures to stop the migrant invaders from reaching the U.S. border. The U.S. stock market hit record highs.

Still, I’m amazed that he’s won out after all they’ve put him through. Our weaponized government has been involved in spying on his presidency, investigating him for treason, launching impeachments, prosecuting him for contrived crimes, and even allowing an assassin to get off a shot at him.  Yet here we are. This time Trump is much better positioned to counter the opposition from within his own party and from within the government itself.

A significant majority of voters are with Trump. I am optimistic that he will have a successful and consequential presidency, and America will by leaps and bounds be the better for it.