Biden vs Trump - November 2020 - Part I More Random Thoughts - Part II
Random thoughts…
11/2/2020
With one day before the election, I find myself thinking about a movie starring Robert Redford. Perhaps you’ve seen it – The Candidate. It’s the story about a young idealist that takes on the established political order and challenges an entrenched incumbent for the US Senate seat in California. A running theme in the movie is The Candidate’s determination to run the campaign his way. He is determined to run on his terms and do things his way. The Candidate eventually learns that he has to listen to the “experts” if he hopes to win. As you know or have guessed, the young guy wins. The outsider defeats the insider. The final scene of the movie is Robert Redford hiding in a hotel room after being declared the winner. His supporters are looking for him and he is desperate to ask his campaign manager one question…What do we do now?”
I find myself asking the same question – what do I do now? I have a queasy stomach and am starting to look for signals:
The Packers lost yesterday – is that a sign?
The weather was terrible today – is that a sign?
I had to go to work today in a building without heat – is that a sign?
If I’m not careful I might drive myself crazy! Like The Candidate, I need to know what I can do now. I’ve already voted. I’ve made myself available to work at the polls. What do I do now?
I’m afraid all I can do, all any of us can do is wait. Unlike 2016, we won’t know the result of the election for a while UNLESS President Trump declares himself the winner.
I have a queasy stomach because I’m pretty certain that the President and his supporters will do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to turn the election in their favor. All of the norms that we’ve grown accustomed to and learned about in school have seemingly been cast aside. For the past four years, I’ve wondered how this could happen. Throughout our history, we’ve elected some unremarkable presidents but we’ve never elected anyone that was as much of a threat to our democratic institutions as this president is.
I’m desperately trying to remain hopeful – we make mistakes once, never twice, right? We’ll know very soon.
I’m no longer in the prediction business – 2016 taught me that! After a long, frightening and blurry year, I hope tomorrow put us on the path to a cure for all of our ills. Even though the year is almost over, I hope that tomorrow puts us on the path to clarity – finally clarity in 2020.
I’m pretty sure there will be a lot of texting tomorrow…
David
More Random Thoughts…
11/7/2020
My stomach is not queasy today. It feels so good to say that Joe Biden will be President of the United States in January and Donald Trump will be hate-tweeting from Mar Lago. Kamal Harris will be Vice-President and Mike Pence will be back home in Indiana.
On Wednesday I drove to Marcellus after to work to pick up a part for my leaf blower. As I was stopped at the light in the village, a car pulled up next to mine and the driver gave me the finger. It must have been my Biden bumper sticker. I smiled and blew him a kiss. As I pulled away I was reminded just how divided our country is.
I texted Brian McKeon when the outcome became official. I congratulated him and told him that I was actually happy that Joe Biden had been unsuccessful in his previous runs for President because this country needs him NOW more than ever.
I’m thinking about writing a song. How about this for a title – “Mama’s Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Pollsters”?
More people voted in this election than in any election since 1900. Just to put that in perspective, in 1900 William McKinley defeated William Jennings Bryan as he had in the election of 1896. McKinley’s running mate was Theodore Roosevelt. TR succeeded to the presidency in September 1901 when McKinley was assassinated.
Jack’s take was perfect – “The end of an error.”
How beautiful would it be if the Biden-Harris ticket were to flip Georgia and Arizona? Talk about the “Curse of the Johns” – I can’t help but think that John McCain (AZ) and John Lewis (GA) are hanging out together in heaven…smiling.
Speaking of heaven, I’ll bet Bill and Ann McKeon are smiling. I suspect Mom & Dad are happy also.
While I am happy today, I know that our country still faces enormous problems – political division, racial inequality, unemployment, an out of control pandemic, an economic downturn, the belief (by many) that the election was stolen from President Trump, court challenges to the election result… However, I’m comforted knowing that a genuinely good man will take over on January 20, 2021.
Joe Biden’s first full day as president will be Peter’s birthday!
Whew…breathe.
DCR