I was revising the analytics behind my prior post when two things quickly stopped me. First, it was quite apparent that not much has changed based on my model. Second, I was boring the crap out of myself.
While I consider myself a political junkie, even I am SO READY for this election to be over:
- I’m tired of constant campaign emails literally begging for my money. I’ve donated a lot of money to many campaigns… and I’m done.
- I’m tired of people telling me to vote. I voted the morning of the first day of early voting in Texas.
- I’m tired of people telling me that everything is going to be fine. I seriously doubt it.
- I’m tired of people telling me that the end of the world is near. Okay, maybe, but let’s just get it over with already.
- I’m tired of swing state polls. No one has any clue how to build a valid polling sample in today’s world and thus every one of these polls could be absolute garbage.
- I’m tired of national polls. For the love of God, why is anyone still conducting these?
- I’m tired of pundits, pollsters, politicians, anchors, campaign operatives, and bloggers (yeah, me included) touting the accuracy of their mathematical models and/or gut feelings. No one knows a damn thing and everyone is just throwing darts in the dark.
I’m ready to move on.
Of course, until the election is actually over, it’s just not a good idea to look too far beyond it. I’m not superstitious, but ya’ know, … just in case.
While election returns are being tabulated and litigated, I may comment on the associated vote-counting and brief-filing processes. I suspect it could get quite ugly in the days (weeks?) following the election and a close Electoral College could well be decided, once again, by the Supreme Court along party lines. While I’ll hold good thoughts for an early, decisive Trump defeat, any posts that assume a Biden victory will have to wait until, well, Biden is victorious. And, no, I won’t even acknowledge the possibility of an alternative outcome.
Post-election, I could happily return to discussions of important political issues rather than just raw politics. I would enjoy thinking about the composition of a Biden cabinet, how some significant Trump-induced damage could be quickly undone, how Democrats should respond to the GOP’s Supreme Court power-grab, why preparations for the 2022 and 2024 elections need to start on November 4, etc.
In the very near term, I could certainly opine on the considerable chaos that a defeated Trump could inflict on our nation between 11/3 and 1/20. That 78-day “transition” period could well prove to be the toughest test yet of American democracy – particularly with a newly stacked Supreme Court backing up a lame duck President who would undoubtedly pursue a scorched earth, Trump-first response to a forced retirement.
But I digress.
Despite the paralyzing fatigue, the only topic deserving of any focus at this moment is the winning of elections. That includes winning the Presidency with enough of a margin that no legal avenues are open to effectively challenge the results. It includes winning the Senate by even a small margin. It includes retaining a majority in the House. Finally, as a Texan, it also includes winning the Texas State House.
If Democrats don’t win, our national nightmares continue.
Note, by the way, that I still don’t consider myself a Democrat. I remain an independent who is so anti-Trump that I guess I do look an awful lot like a Democrat. However, I pray for the day when Republicans find their way back to their small-government, deficit-adverse, world-leader, morality-focused roots. Our government works best when we pursue compromises between sane, opposing viewpoints. However, the Party of Trump is not the Republican party of Rockefeller, Reagan, nor either Bush. The current bastardization must be extinguished and rebuilt from scratch.
I personally voted for Biden without reservation – despite the fact that a few of his policies send chills up my spine. I can thus understand if some lifelong Republicans cannot bring themselves to vote for any Democrat. I can respect someone who casts a third-party vote or simply refrains from voting in this election. However, I cannot understand how any educated, politically-aware, moral person could vote FOR Trump. He does not deserve to be the President of the United States and he will destroy our country if he is re-elected.
Yes, I’m tired. But I’ll fight through the fatigue and I encourage others to do the same.
Change is imperative.