It’s Almost Here, and I Can’t Wait

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One more week.

Like a prisoner counting down the days till his release, I await Election Day. A week from today, Nov 3, 2020 is the day they count the votes, the day on which the four-year political stain, the Presidency of Donald Trump, comes to an end. Remember the iconic photo of the sailor kissing the girl in Times Square at the end of World War II. Well, I and all those who value decency and democracy will be looking for someone to give a smooch, and there will be dancing in the streets the moment they declare that Donald Trump is no more.

That is, if Biden wins.

I recall sadly four years ago election night. We were so certain that Hillary would triumph, so how can I be so certain that we won’t be disappointed again? Let me count the ways.

Four years ago, the Democratic candidate was not at all well-liked. For lots of reasons, many of them unfair, plenty of people just didn’t like Hillary Clinton and couldn’t see themselves voting for her. Some of those people voted for what appeared to be the lesser of two evils, and some of them just sat on their hands and stayed home. Joe is likable, Joe is someone you could share a beer or a cup of coffee with. Joe’s not losing any votes because he’s a disagreeable person.
The Republican candidate was a novelty. An apparently successful businessman, a media star, a non-politician. How bad could he be? Let’s shake things up and give him a try. Four years later, the verdict is in. The man is incompetent, egotistical, racist, anti-democratic (with a small d). For anyone who would look, there are no clothes on the emperor. Novelty was his label then. Charlatan is the reality now.
Few people are staying home. It’s a week away from the election, and over 52 million voters have already cast their ballot. It does not appear that people are sitting on their hands. In fact, it appears that people are expressing their feelings as strongly as they can, that they are already mailing in ballots and standing on long lines. I’m guessing that this time around we will set records for number of votes cast—and I’m betting that the vast majority of these are people who are fed up and are shouting out loud, with their ballots, that we badly need change.
We have learned some sad lessons from 2016 about the difference between winning the popular vote and winning the election. My crystal ball does not tell me exactly which states the Democrats will turn around, but Biden et al have run a smart, disciplined and focused campaign. Many states that went red in 2016 will go blue this year, and, by the way, the Dems will occupy a majority of both Houses of Congress. (It probably won’t happen in either case, but wouldn’t it be great to see both Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham get knocked on their keisters.)

I can add and subtract pretty well, so to me the math is relatively straightforward. There are few people out there who did not vote for Trump in 2016 who will do so in 2020. The man may have his base, but he has not expanded it in any meaningful way. Beyond “the basket of deplorables,” the Proud Boys and QAnon-ers, who may emerge from their caves to get some exercise, Trump hasn’t gained any new or large blocs of support. On the other hand, now that Donald Trump has had four years to show his true colors, many many people who voted for him, suburban women, older voters, African-Americans, will all cast their votes against him this time around. Enthusiastic about Joe or not, they are smart enough to recognize that we could not and should not have to endure another four years of this tyrant. This has become a referendum on Donald Trump and the people will have their voice heard.

This time the good guy will prevail—and by a lot. My smile will go from ear to ear, I’ll sip a cup of wine and say l’chaim, and Dorothy, Toto, and I will all sleep a whole lot easier when we know that, ding dong, the wicked witch is dead.