I told my friend I was bracing for the Man from Mar-a-Lago’s victory in 2024.
That’s not going to happen, he said. Why are you bracing for it?
Because I don’t want to be blindsided as I was in 2016. I’ve got a-fib. My heart can’t take an unexpected blow like that again. If I survived, I couldn’t live here anymore. I’d seek asylum.
(Elon, Elon, wait, please wait. I wanna be a Martian too.)
My friend shook his head.
Why do you think Biden will lose?
Because the polls show him behind. Six months ago the disgraced former president’s ratings were slipping even among Republicans. Now they’re soaring. And that’s just after indictments. Wait until he’s found guilty and sentenced. He’s unstoppable. He’s like the Terminator.
Oh, stop! He’s not unstoppable. Biden stopped him in 2020.
True. But this time I fear voters will SERIOUSLY consider Biden’s age, his gimpy gait, halting speech, and wizened face and then look at his vice president and ask: “If Biden doesn’t last, do I want Kamala Harris running the country?”
The vice presidential candidate has never affected the outcome of a US election.
I know. But this time the vice presidential candidate could make THE difference. I mean, what if the Man from Mar-a-Lago selects a suave, smart, and sane running mate?!
And who exactly would that be?
Oh, yeah, good point.
Look, I’ve followed every presidential contest since I was 12. Consider this: Neither candidate can win without the Independent vote. In 2020 Independents weren’t enthused with Biden, but they despised The Ogre so much they voted overwhelmingly for Old Joe.
Good point.
So it will come down, again, to the Independents. Ask yourself this question: What might win any of them over? The Man from Mar-a-Lago’s gleeful endorsement of overturning Roe v. Wade? His instigation of the January 6 insurrection? His grumpy old man mug shot?
Yet another good point from my savvy friend.
Biden may be old, but he’s wise. He’s experienced, introspective, restrained, cheerful, and humble. The other isn’t. And that becomes more obvious by the day. I’m certain most people in this country still prefer wisdom, grace, stability, and sanity over their opposites.
And just like that, I felt a whole lot better.
I thanked my friend for relieving my anxiety.
You’re welcome.
And then he told me he predicted Hillary would win handily in 2016.
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See Paula’s “Dahlia” on the home page.
Have you been in my brain lately? Honestly, I have the same exact, verbatim fears and the thought of life elsewhere, were “the man from….” to win, is a refrain for me.
I’m not sufficiently convinced but this optimism is going to share space with my fear, and that’s a good thing. And so, thank you!
Oops.
Martin Luther King said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.” Let us hope that our fellow citizens will be wise and mature enough to make a prudent decision regarding the leadership for the next four years. While we “can’t see the whole staircase” (the election results), we can envision the sad demise of our democratic values. But hope, like faith, is not a strategy. As Reinhold Niebuhr stated, “Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” Let us vote to ensure its necessary continuation!
Turnout, turnout, turnout. Vote early and often. Oh, wait, not funny anymore.
Wonderful essay of fundamental political facts followed by awesome comments. Thanks for your reminders. We have a monster crisis of values and culture in America. We need to ground our policy and politics on the survival instincts of our common good and social compassion. We got a lot of ground to plow while we dare never allow an under estimate of the dangers posed by an admitted fascist right.
That’s a great photo of Biden. If he continues to look that fresh that will help. He needs some serious coaching for public speaking, poetic pacing, when to pause, how to relax and deliver all of the syllables in a word, to listen to himself and enjoy the sounds of what he’s saying. Barack Obama would be the one to help him with this if he were willing. It would make a huge difference to hear Biden speak with authority and with the grace of a poet rather than a schoolboy reading a report and trying to get it over with as quickly as possible. The schoolboy is where he is right now with his speaking. I know he used to stutter and so he practiced speaking for many years to get over the stutter, so he can do this. I love him too and am grateful for the qualities you’ve mentioned that he brings to the presidency.
Back in ‘44, when FDR was running for his fourth term, his health was a big issue. Thus the electability of the vice presidential candidate became very important to the campaign. As a result, then-current vice president Henry Wallace, who was considered too far to the left to win a general election, was replaced on the ticket by Harry Truman. Roosevelt won, was inaugurated in January 1945, then died in April.
The point of all of this is that this time, Biden having the right VP candidate on the ticket might actually help with his reelection campaign. The easiest way to do this, in my opinion, would be to raise Harris’s public visibility to show that she’s diligently working on the administration’s agenda in the background and will be ready, if need be, to step up at a moment’s notice.
Jobs, roads, and schools was a simple message to get the vote when I worked for democrat Rep. Harley Staggers, Jr. Yet, the secret sauce for an incumbent was constituent services combined with taxpayer-funded direct mail to voters. I have often felt that our ten years on the Hill was the end of an era. It was more about issues for working folks and less about being pissed-off just because you can.
When a friend needed a passport fast, I recommended he call Senator Manchin’s office. He got a personal call from the Senator saying it was in the works. He pledged his vote for the good Senator for life. When I sent out newsletters to the 20-counties we represented in West Virginia’s then 2nd congressional district, I would highlight specific county-based issues.
Nowadays, mini-Trump insurrectionist Alex Mooney sends mailers beating the drum and waving the bloody flag as if the brown skin hoard and liberals (aka socialists) are at the gate.
It’s a heartfelt message shared by a significant percentage of Americans, even when they vote against their religious proclamations and individual interests. I think Heraclitus said, “It is easier to change a tire than a heart,” or maybe it was something about stepping in the same river twice.
Constitutionality and justice must prevail, and this all will be rendered moot. Let this be our mantra going forward–we cannot project all of our anxious, fearful energy onto Joe Biden, who has done an extraordinary job. In the meantime, who’s up for forming a caravan? I DID predict the most disastrous presidency we’ve ever had, and I’m a lifelong, not-Hillary-hating;-voted-for-her progressive Dem. Earth to the Universal Help Line…
Spot on… every word! Your words; your friend’s words…having faith, expecting the best – in spite of all that’s transpired; and because of all that’s transpiring…I do believe…& I beat back the fears & worries with stronger feelings of basic common sense. Ol’ Joe…I’m on your side…
Thanks again! Needed this today, my friends🙏🏼
The bottom line is that there is no strategy. People from the left and right are questioning the strategic thinking of our Dems. Is this RBG again? Had she resigned, her replacement would have been another wonderful Justice. Is Biden hoping beyond hope that his health will hold out to defeat Voldemort? Our President should not have his citizens praying that he does not stumble or be seen as feeble at a crucial time in our Democracy. What is wrong with mentoring, handing the baton to one of the many vital, savvy, politicians. “Because Biden is the only one who can bring in the money necessary to defeat Trump!” Balderdash. The Biden agenda can be moved forward with a vital person backed by millions. Pun intended. The only hope is to check the British Bookies. They predicted Trump over Hillary years before the election…I’m bracing too.
Thank you for another marvelous Sunday missal. I do wish we could tap more of the talent that is out there. Not to incite hatred and division. The fear of change is at the heart of so much of what is happening in our country.
Ah yes, the ironies of life! When will people ever start understanding what never say never again means? Doesn’t everything have a chance of coming true at least once? We’re all clinging to planet Earth, rotating endlessly in an ever expanding universe. What are the odds of that ever happening? That’s why I’m not a betting man. Because I see irony in life and know that stating something or another couldn’t possibly happen again shares kinship with once in 500 year floods. If it happened once it could happen again. Now they happen all the time. The American experiment in representative democracy and the freewheeling, eccentricity of free speech and thought, while assembled in the public square, hangs in the balance. Just remember, once we lose it, we won’t get it back. In the immortal words of Wobblie organizer, Joe Hill, “Don’t mourn me (American democracy)! Organize!” And never say never again. 🙂