I have a feeling the next five days are going to last about five months.
Actually, they’ll just seem that way, and once they’re over, the next 78 days may last 78 years.
If you haven’t been following closely, five days is the gap between now and election day and the 78 days after that are how long it will be before inauguration day.
I have voted in 11 presidential elections dating back to 1972 (I missed 1988 by moving from one state to another a week before the election), and if Joe Biden wins in my 12th election, I will have voted for six winners and six losers. But while I can’t honestly say I knew who would win all those elections, the only one that really surprised me was 2016.
I’m not going to get into all the irregularities that made Donald Trump’s victory possible, but I will say Democrats underestimated the amount of hatred for Hillary Clinton there was on the right.
History eventually will view the 2016 election the way much of the rest of the world already does.
“WHAT THE FU–“
There may never be another one-term president who will have more of an effect on the country — three far-right Supreme Court justices, the destruction of our reputation around the world and several hundred thousand Americans dead of the coronavirus.
My guess is the one history will have the hardest time reconciling is his lack of leadership during the pandemic.. From his declaration that “I take no responsibility at all” for the deaths to his refusal even after nine months to call for a mask mandate, Trump bumbled and fumbled the response in trying to keep the economy from tanking.
It isn’t just that he refused to mandate masks. He ridicules people who wear them or who try to practice social distancing. Look at the picture at the beginning of this piece from an indoor rally earlier this week at a Phoenix megachurch. With the exception of a couple of Latinx, the audience is almost completely Caucasian. People are jammed closely together and you have to search the photo carefully to find face masks.
And the worst part of it all?
As a third wave of the virus hits the country, Trump is saying we’re rounding the corner and defeating the virus.
“WHAT THE FU–“
If Trump is re-elected Tuesday, it will be an even bigger shock than his 2016 victory. As we approach the final weekend, there are no signs he is closing the gap in the polls. In fact, he is losing several states that Republicans rarely lose, and he is no better than even in strongholds like Texas.
He jokes about how humiliating it would be to lose to Joe Biden, who he calls the worst candidate ever nominated by either party. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see him lose by a wide margin, one that leaves no doubt that Americans have rejected him?
Especially with the liability he faces in state courts, it wouldn’t be even a little bit surprising to see Trump flying to Moscow and seeking asylum on January 20th.
That would be worth waiting 83 days for.
It certainly would.