The Election of 2020 Is Already Lost

Sure, they’re laughing, but I’m not

W.J. Astore

Remember Barack Obama, he of the “hope and change” campaign of 2008? He intervened in the 2020 Democratic primaries in March to eliminate any chance for hope and change this time around. That’s why we’re stuck with Biden/Harris versus Trump/Pence and a Hobson’s choice when it comes to what really matters for most Americans today.

I confess for a brief instant I thought Bernie Sanders was going to carry the day. Sanders knows we need a true political revolution in this country, which is precisely why the DNC and Obama conspired to put him down. Obama got both “Mayor” Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar to drop out and throw their support to Joe Biden. At the same time, he rallied the Black vote for Joe. The other mayor, billionaire Bloomberg, dropped out when he knew Sanders was sunk. And the election of 2020 was over.

I know — we still have another week until November 3rd and the general election. Yes, of course there are differences between Trump and Biden. But, again, if you were looking for substantive and meaningful change, if you were looking for a champion for the working classes, if you were looking for higher wages, better and more affordable health care, and some movement toward a less bellicose foreign and domestic policy, your candidate is gone, probably eliminated by Mister Hope and Change himself.

Surely this must be counted under Barack Obama’s sad and depressing legacy: the abandonment of even a pretense toward serving any interests other than those of the already well-heeled.

I predicted Biden/Harris was going to be the ticket a year before it became true, but I so much wanted to be wrong. I wanted a candidate to vote for, not simply an opponent to vote against. For a brief time, I was allowed to dream that we Democrats actually had a say in picking our candidate, and that it might be a true progressive, not another fake left, run right schmuck. Yes, deep down I knew better, but dreams sustain us, until harsh reality slaps us in the face and wakes us.

So, I’m awake, if not “woke,” and I despair because to me the election of 2020 is already lost.

74 thoughts on “The Election of 2020 Is Already Lost”

  1. I was already worried because no “Monday Musings”! After following right-leaning twitter-sphere and differences in the candidate events in the past week or so, I sadly have to call this one for Trump. Obama’s legacy will be to get us Trump not once but twice.

    There are all kinds of polls but as the great regret (and social welfare) minimizer Jeff Bezos says “if data and anecdotes disagree, the data are wrong”.

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    1. I know Trump is generating a lot of sound and fury, as usual, but I give the edge to Biden. Not because he’s better, but because the “silent majority” are fed up with Trump’s antics, and if enough of them vote, Trump is gone.

      Turnout is everything, which is why we’re seeing all those “vote” signs everywhere. Even on football fields!

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      1. Certainly the early voting is unprecedented. We have no way of knowing who’s “ahead” in that voting, of course. The Trump base, I suspect, is feeling nervous and thus motivated to hustle to the polls (or the outgoing mailbox). Those who have had it with The Donald are likewise energized. I predict a doozy of an outcome.

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      2. But….Kavanaugh is already making noises about the Bush v. Gore precedent, and about permitting disallowing the counting of ballots that arrive after November 3rd, even if they’re postmarked well in advance of that date. Unless there’s an insurmountable Biden landslide, say, tens of millions of votes, the Dumpster will engineer a SCOTUS decision, and the chances now that such a verdict will favor Biden are about the size of quarks.

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        1. It is not unreasonable for states to set deadlines for receipt of ballots. People have been warned to get their ballots in as early as possible, and it’s clear from field reports that this is happening. The big fat issue will become “Why were X thousands of ballots held up in the mail?” Postmaster General DeJoy (great name!) and one Donald Trump will have some explaining to do. A repeat of the 2000 fiasco will be a disaster, and it simply should not happen in “an advanced nation.” But, again, if it happens it will happen INTENTIONALLY, and I call that more than a little criminal.

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  2. I will protest here that you are tilting at windmills.

    We had our tremendous and substantive change in 2016. We got a different sort of politician who had pledged all sorts of meaningful change. Gradually he began to fulfill on his promises.

    What? Oh, you mean not THAT kind of change! Not the eroding of most meaninful environmental protections of the last two decades? Not the undermining of may features of our democratic process of the very Constitution itself? Not the replacing of professonal government with corrupt and amateur family members whose only goal was their own enrichmemt? Not THOSE kinds of change?

    But the OTHER kind of change. Those changes that might have built on the oft times lamented as being too small progressive changes of the past few decades? Ah, yes. Those changes.

    But whine and bitch not for we still have that chance ahead of us, those progressive changes yet to make.

    The only issue now is this election right in front of us. Progressive in the positive sense, the current ticket from our friends at the DNC? Well, probably not. But a return to the status quo of before eight years ago isn’t a worthless endeavor by itself.

    If Trump and his cheesy cohorts are ushered out of the center of government there will be the likelihood that the Constitution will be preserved and the quest for a more perfect union can continue. It can continue with some necessary reconstruction and then some forward progress can be made.

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    1. In this modern age of rampant disinformation (CNN online keeps referring stupidly to mere “misinformation,” which sounds entirely too innocent!), spread at close to the speed of light, I sincerely feel like this republic faces the greatest danger in my lifetime. Oh, the Cuban Missile Crisis was scary, to be sure, as the US’s imperial hubris brought the world to the brink of annihilation. But never before has a sitting POTUS publicly vowed to make every effort to rig the outcome of an election, by any dirty trick at his disposal. Do I exaggerate? History will tell, and probably fairly soon. I say probably because contesting a loss–“Massive voter fraud!!”–is right on the front burner of what Trump is cooking up. The best case scenario would be a Biden win in Electoral College sufficient to withstand a reversal of the outcome in a few key states after the fact.

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    2. “Tilting at windmills” does sound like me.

      Assuming Biden wins, I hope he shows a progressive bent. But it’s very unlikely. He’s already talking about Republicans in his cabinet, more money for weapons but austerity for the rest of us, private health insurance as the best option, etc. etc. In other words, Ol’ Joe hasn’t changed and will not. Why should he? Like Zack Mayo in “An Officer and a Gentleman,” Progressives have nowhere else to go, and Joe knows this.

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      1. Well, I’d say “progressives have nowhere else to go” THIS time because the alternative to a Biden win is so, so unpalatable.

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      2. Exactly, as to your last sentence. Therefore, Joe has no incentive to do one progressive thing, if indeed he gets enough votes to secure the election. Once he’d be installed in the Oval Office, it would be payback time for his corporate donors.

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        1. One great advantage a Biden “brain trust” installed in the WH will have is they DON’T have to play to an audience of climate change deniers. The Energy Industry will still be treated with kid gloves, but what else is new? And the folks running that industry aren’t idiots. When cost of solar-generated electricity started dropping a decade ago or whenever it was, British Petroleum started investing in that technology and ran ads declaring that BP stood for “Beyond Petroleum.” Well, they were something less than 100% behind that notion, but I think they see that there’s little place for them in the future. Hell, there’s even a new model Hummer coming out that’s all-electric!

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            1. I dunno, I think Joe might be put up for sainthood if he can find level-headed GOPers to serve the interests of the nation, the people, as enthusiastically as their ilk serve the corporations! It would be quite an achievement! The GOP has devoted itself these past four years to exercise of naked power. Pelosi, Biden etc. are correct to so characterize their actions. The Dems need to obtain a solid majority in both chambers of Congress for any legislative “work” to move forward. We–spoken on behalf of “We the people,” not as a Dem, which I ain’t and have never been–need to send Mitch McConnell’s desk in the Senate, the Graveyard of Squelched Legislation, to Davy Jones’s Locker. Some kind of near-Halloween theme in those images, eh?

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              1. Yes, you do conjure up some frightful images. I don’t think, however, that Biden’s requirements for GOP cabinet members would involve either levelheadedness or devotion to serving constituents. I think “tied to the same donors” would be more in the ballpark.

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                1. Only time will tell. This “hands across the aisle” talk may be pure BS on Joe’s part, evaporating after a (putative) Biden win and gains for Dems in Congress. I saw a cute aphorism (?) or truism (?) as subject line in a fundraising appeal email from a progressive organization: “Voting isn’t a valentine, it’s a chess move.” I’d never seen that one. I’m not sending Biden a valentine come Tuesday, I’m hoping to send a pink slip to the incumbent.

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  3. I seize this opportunity to post some comments by Hannah Arendt on the subject of this republic (NOT “a democracy,” she agrees). This is from a multi-lingual filmed interview conducted by Roger Errera for French TV in October 1973. The transcript appears in “Thinking Without a Banister: Essays in Understanding 1953-1975,” which I have nearly completed digesting. HANNAH ARENDT: “The Constitution–that is a scrap of paper, according to French as well as German common opinion, and you can change it. No, here [USA] it is a sacred document, it is the constant remembrance of a sacred act, the act of foundation. And the foundation is to make a union out of wholly disparate ethnic minorities and religions, and still a.) have a union and b.) not assimilate or level down these differences. And all this is very difficult to understand for a foreigner. It’s what foreigners never understand. We can say this is a government by law and not by men. To the extent that is true, and needs to be true, the well-being of the country, of the United States of America, of the republic, depends on it. … As long as we have a free press there is a limit to what can happen. The moment the press is no longer free, or when the press is forced to reveal its sources, which, as you know, is now before the courts [the Watergate scandal], then anything can happen. You know, what really makes it possible for a totalitarian or any other kind of dictatorship to rule is that the people are not informed. How can anyone have an opinion who is not informed? [Sure isn’t a roadblock for today’s US citizenry, eh?–GL] On the other hand, if everyone always lies to you, the consequence is not that you believe the lies [again, no longer true of our country–GL], but that no one believes anything at all anymore. … That means that the people are deprived not only of their capacity to act, but also of their capacity to think and to judge. And with such a people you can then do what you please.”
    Ms. Arendt mentioned that the French, at that time, had gone thru about 14 constitutions since their Revolution. So why is the US Constitution enshrined as a sacred document, modified/updated only with great reluctance? I have to think it’s because it so effectively protects the privileges of the few, which was the intent of the Founding Fathers without a doubt. An Athenian style democracy was never their plan! I will never get around to reading all of Hannah Arendt’s works, but from what I have read I have concluded the following. Her great weakness was her refusal to recognize the CLASS NATURE of society. She had read Karl Marx but claimed he did not understand POWER. Imagine that! A thinker who called on the oppressed to “turn from the weapon of criticism to the criticism of weapons” and take control of society in the interest of the great majority didn’t understand power! Oh well, no one’s perfect, right?

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    1. Tulsi Gabbard in the Cabinet? Probably not. Bernie? In what capacity? Certainly Gov. Inslee should be considered for the EPA or Dept. of Energy. But even that may be going too far for Joe. The major departments, like State and War (oh, right, “Defense”) we may be VERY confident will go to mainstream imperialists.

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      1. Yep, re “Defense.” I read the other day that Bernie has expressed an interest in Labor. While that would be an excellent post for him, I’m not sure it would do justice to his full abilities.

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        1. My prediction: no post for Bernie because he’s “too old” (whispered), too important in the Senate (total BS), and too unpredictable because he’s not bought (the truth).

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        2. Bernie was an early supporter of $15/hr. Fed. minimum wage. The specific harms Trump has been able to do to the rights of workers, including in the arena of safety on the job, hopefully can be undone by executive actions. If a Biden admin. was to refuse to exercise such powers, on grounds that “they’re ‘above’ GOP’s tactics,” that would be way beyond the last straw. In such a case I would have to urge the Dems to officially merge with the GOP, as the NFL absorbed the AFL and the NBA absorbed the ABA. They’re already nauseatingly close to having done that “de facto,” as commenters here are so fond of pointing out, but the aberration of Trump’s ascension to office of POTUS does make for a clear choice this time. The Boring Career Politician vs. the Raving Lunatic, that’s our choice. “Donald Trump: He Kept Us Out of War.” Well, thus far that’s true in the realm of foreign affairs–though he certainly hasn’t moved to END any conflicts–but what about the war against the American worker? Ah, that’s been sizzling right along, and with SCOTUS in its present condition, god help anyone who ends up before the highest court fighting for on-the-job justice!!

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  5. As with the Clintons, the Obamas – with their acolytes will direct the Democratic Party for decades, as well as fill major positions in any Democratic administration. I agree that a Biden election is better for the country and the world than four more years of Trump. But until the neoliberal lock on the Democrats is broken, incrementalism and faux populism will rule and nothing is going to get better.

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  6. What bothers me most is the complete lack of discussion about campaign financing. The amounts put into campaigns continue to set records at every level (prez and Congress and state legislatures) and has become just another figure to track. Billionaires like Bloomberg can easily buy a candidacy if not a guarantee of office. Half a billion he spent. No big deal for him. Illinois’ governor is a billionaire. Whether one agrees with his other moves such $$$ to give felons the right to vote in Florida, etc., this kind of power is anathema to democracy.

    The Supreme Court already had us on disaster road with Citizens United and with Heller (on guns) and it’s hard to see Biden getting involved in moving things the other way which would, even if he tried, lead to rebuffs by the further-to-the-right SC that answers to no one.

    The Republicans have the chessboard mastered with checkmate achieved by tricky moves that can be openly hypocritical as in the SC nomination steal or anti-democratic like the attempt to disqualify voters or make it harder to vote. Need I mention the blatant abuse of power by Trump cashing in on his office? How can any sentient being not see what is happening?

    We need a Biden landslide, not for any value Biden will bring, but to have Trumpism dealt a heavy blow after which currently cowering Republicans would drop him like a hot potato.

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    1. I certainly agree “The System” is grossly out of control. If Trump becomes a lame duck “some time” (who knows when?) after Nov. 3, Republicans whose seats were up for grabs this year (all Members of House of course, and c. 1/3 of US Senate) will have either fallen or survived based on their being associated with Trump via party affiliation. But I am sure they’ll continue to maintain the party discipline that has allowed them to kill important legislation and take over the judicial system. That last aspect of our current political plight is of supreme (no pun!) importance for the nation’s future.

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  8. Bill Clinton probably did more to wreck the old Democratic Party of FDR. At least the old Democratic Party could be counted on to be Progressive even when it moved a glacial pace. LBJ for all his Vietnam War faults took a giant step with the Civil Rights Act, it was politically, culturally and socially an event that sealed the fate of the Democratic Party in the South. It was an act of courage on LBJ’s part. Medicare was also a transformative change.

    Clinton turned the party of Democratic Main Street to Wall Street. There was no FDR or LBJ courage on Clinton’s part politically. I suppose appointing Hillary to lead the fight on healthcare made it a certainty that it would be controlled, i.e., none of that Single Payer ideas would be considered.

    Anyway, back to present. My hope is that Biden and the Democrats have such an overwhelming victory, The Trumpet’s best efforts at obstruction will fall flat. My other hope is that people like AOC and the Squad will not let up to drag the Democratic Party to the Left.

    I reckon the pundits will conclude if the Democrats win big – See we told you America wants “Centrists”. “Centrists” in this case being Republicanism without The Trumpet, none of that Bernie Democratic Socialism or Reformers.

    Mathias ‘Paddy’ Bauler, was an American saloonkeeper and alderman of the 43rd ward of Chicago. He is famous for the quote, “Chicago ain’t ready for reform yet”, or “Chicago ain’t ready for a reform mayor, upon the news of Richard J. Daley’s first election as mayor of Chicago in 1955.

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    1. Exactly right, ML. If Biden wins, the DNC will claim vindication. “America wants a sensible Democrat like Joe Biden — a guy willing to reach across the aisle with a smile and an open hand.”

      As Joe might say, Give me a break.

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      1. Ha, that’s funny! I just posted a comment before seeing this that I ended with “Gimme a break.” Lord knows, with anti-maskers spreading Covid-19 far and wide, almost with glee, we need SOMEONE sensible in the White House!! The incumbent ruled himself out from day one. It’s been said that Biden used to “pal around” with the likes of Strom Thurmond. That turns my stomach, yes, but the incumbent simply must be handed a pink slip.

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    2. Yes, ‘Big Dog’ Clinton–the Governor of Arkansas, for cripesake!–was an exemplar of the New Model (Corporate) Democrat. As for LBJ and civil rights, though, the tall man from Texas felt pushed against the wall; act before all the urban centers have burned to the ground. Lyndon didn’t have a progressive cell in his whole body, on a personal level. Lenny Bruce used to do a bit about LBJ having to learn how to say “Negro” to replace the term he formerly applied to black folk!! I was a pre-teen when Adlai Stevenson ran for the presidency, but I suppose he may have been the last (reasonably?) progressive Dem to seek the White House. [I limit the discussion to those with an actual chance of winning, thus excluding Howard Dean, Bernie Sanders, etc.] JFK, do I hear someone nominating? That man was 100% a Cold Warrior, I retort. Obama? Gimme a break, I reply!

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        1. That assertion remains debatable. Had he not bungled “Bay of Pigs”–that invasion plan he inherited from Nixon, BTW–he may have stayed on good side of The Mob! They really, really wanted to get their grubby hands back on their former Cuban assets and didn’t take kindly to humiliating failure.

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          1. His “bungling” of the Bay of Pigs is debatable. There’s a history or two that says that, although he was skeptical of both the value and feasibility of the operation, he did go along with it, but signals got crossed during the execution.

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            1. As I read history, JFK put his neck in the noose by NOT sending in active-duty US military to assist the mercenaries who got trounced by Cuban patriots. That was the very loud hue and cry complaint raised by the Fascist elements in the US. Yes, I’m using “Fascist” very consciously and intentionally. Those clowns–dangerous ones, to be sure–who ended up on Nixon’s “plumbers squad,” many of them anti-Castro Cubans themselves.

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    3. Also attributed to the venerable “Paddy”: “People love reformers, they just don’t vote for ’em.” That’s Realpolitik, folks. I may be dipping back into my copy of Len O’Connor’s “Clout” later today.

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    1. Yes, perhaps even a touch of humility (what a concept!). Biden said in the final “debate” he was “WRONG”–imagine that!!–to have worked on behalf of the crime legislation that brought harsh sentences for many non-violent offenders. Can anyone imagine Trump making such an admission?

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      1. “Can anyone imagine Trump making such an admission?”
        NO, resounding no.
        Americans deserve elected officials who are able to admit their errors and change their way of thinking and change the course of their actions. If VP Biden is one of them, one will find out soon enough, if elected!

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  10. For what it’s worth, I wrote this to a friend:

    What has surprised me is how Trump seems to be running against Bernie not Joe! All this talk of socialism and the radical left is unconvincing unless you’re a Trump toady. Biden and Harris are obvious center-right Dems.

    I really thought Trump would run to the left of Biden, using his populist appeal, however insincere it may be. But Trump seems to be in a Fox News echo chamber, doubling down on what motivates his base. I don’t think this is enough to win in these times.

    I think Trump’s ego and his desire for applause lines at rallies are doing him in this time around.

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    1. By Tuesday, I imagine we’ll see a faked image of Biden burning a US flag, re-tweeted by Trump and going viral in a flash!!

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    2. “What has surprised me is how Trump seems to be running against Bernie not Joe!”

      Bernie serves a function/purpose in this case as The Trumpet is trying to convince his base that Biden and Bernie are birds of the same feather – Godless, gun confiscating radicals that will tax you more.

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      1. Actually, in the most extreme pro-Trump “Evangelical” circles, Biden will be demonized as “an agent of the Vatican.” But perhaps that = “godless” in their warped minds. In the final “debate,” Trump exchanged “AOC + 3” for “the Squad” and tried to plant an umbilical cord from them to Joe’s belly. “Liberal” has been the fave rightwing epithet, replacing “Commie,” for many years now. Joe Biden sure is a poor actor if he’s even trying to pose as a liberal. It is a sign of how intentionally language has been distorted/perverted in our politics. Only by comparison to a creature like Trump can today’s mainstream (centrist, if you prefer) Dems be viewed as liberals. If professing support for the now battered concept of separation of church and state makes one a liberal, then I’ll have to be counted in that basket. How (not) hilarious that those who lobby most vigorously for the final trashing of that principle claim to be “originalists” in interpreting the Constitution!

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        1. I watched “The Candidate” last night, made in 1972, with Robert Redford as a newbie senatorial candidate in California. The Dems had recruited him because of his looks, his background (Dad had been the governor), and the fact that his approach was diametrically opposite to that of the long-established GOP opponent. He was a vehemently outspoken environmentalist and a confirmed liberal, back when “liberal” equaled “progressive.” What struck me was the fact that the issues he was passionately arguing for—healthcare, good education opportunities, the whole range of environmental causes, unions, economic equality—are exactly the same issues we’re STILL fighting for, almost 50 years later. When his campaign handlers asked about abortion, he answered, “I’m for it.” They quickly backed him off, saying that he couldn’t just come right out and advocate abortion. And predictably, they toned down his positions on everything, publicly. He privately hadn’t changed his stance on anything, but “they” wouldn’t let him be outspoken. Spoiler alert: he wins the election, then has no idea what to do next. I suspect that Redford’s character was a pretty close match with his real persona, that he actually does hold the beliefs his character supported in the film.

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          1. I remember that movie. The ending is spot on. What do we do now? The candidate, now winner, is totally lost until his handlers tell him what is permissible to believe.

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            1. That was just it: the handlers told Redford from the beginning that he didn’t have a chance. The Dems just wanted to put up a plausible opposition candidate who wasn’t the same old, same old. So there was no plan for what would happen after a win. But I think Redford’s character would have fought the good fight in office, at least for awhile.

              I also watched “The Last Hurrah” about a 1950s mayor of Boston, starring Spencer Tracy. One of the most interesting scenes in the movie was when he described the tactic of compromise: listen to all interested parties, then find a solution not advocated by any of them, but in the end, satisfactory to all, or at least, not arguable. Brilliant!

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              1. “The Last Hurrah” is a famous movie. But compromise has become a dirty word for the Republicans stifling any legislative “progress” in the US Senate. They wield their power much more effectively, to stifle progress, than the Dems do, to extent the Dems are even still interested in a bit of progress, as they scramble to hold on to the perks of elected office.

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            2. If Biden’s handlers/advisers (making the very bold assumption Trump will actually be ousted!) FAIL to push him to take action on climate issues, it will truly be “lights out!” for our planet. We know Joe is playing footsie with Big Oil, but as I commented the other day, that industry has a modicum of common sense, and as long as they can PROFIT from renewable energy sources, it should be possible to nudge them in the right direction.

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          2. I haven’t revisited that particular movie since it came out. Certainly, “image consultants” and opinion poll mavens are critical team members of anyone’s campaign these days. Steve Bannon helped launch Trump on his revolting course, and now Steven Miller is a key strategist for racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, etc. I still haven’t been able to view Errol Morris’s interview with Bannon (“American Dharma”). May have to pay to stream it a la carte from somewhere.

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              1. If Evil didn’t have a certain appeal, where would the movie industry be?? Stephen King would be an unknown wannabe author living in a little hovel in the backwoods of Maine, yes? Or maybe flipping burgers somewhere!

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      1. Thus sayeth the Gospels: “It will be more difficult for a candidate questioning the notion of ‘American Exceptionalism’ to be elected than for a camel to pass thru the eye of a needle.”

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  13. Matt Taibbi on the Trump-Biden “choice”:

    “Trump’s incompetence and influence on the darkest part of the national character make it morally impossible to vote for him. But his opponents are lying, witch-hunting scum in their own right, a club of censorious bureaucrats whose instincts for democracy and free speech hover somewhere between the mid-seventies GDR and the Church of Scientology. I thought all year I’d be able to do it, but I wake up this week unable to talk myself into voting for these people, even against Trump. What choices they give us! Thank God at least it’s about to be over. If it’s about to be over. Please, let it be over.”

    https://taibbi.substack.com/p/the-worst-choice-ever

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    1. Well, if THIS time is “the worst choice ever,” Taibbi is saying Biden is worse than H. Clinton. I’m not convinced of that. They’re probably about equal in being tools of Big Business, G-Sachs, the Pentagon, etc. I just posted on Facebook that I’ll happily entertain whatever preposterous poppycock Trump will be spouting between Nov. 4 and Jan. 20…as long as he goes down in defeat. And if Biden is initially declared the victor, man, is that poppycock gonna flow! Luxury goods stores in NYC are boarding their windows as a precaution against civil unrest. Another unprecedented situation in our country (vis-a-vis an election). Thanks, Donald!

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  14. Agree that Hillary and Joe are equally objectionable.

    And yes, as long as the idiot goes, the country comes out ahead, although his departure may not be.pretty.

    As for prepping for civil unrest, I was just in our local Costco, located in a solidly middle-class suburb, naturally, and it was wall-to-wall people, with carts full of toilet paper, water, and snacks. Evidently, the feeling in general is that we need to be prepared to hunker down. Simply bizarre.

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    1. We need more bidets in America to save on TP. And snacks? Most Americans, myself included, could stand to lose a few pounds. 🙂

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      1. Yep, on both counts. Our family didn’t eat snacks very much at all, so I’ve never been a junk food fan. But if the zombie apocalypse comes in the form of Orange-inspired mayhem, I may rethink an indulgence in Ho-Hos and chips.

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          1. In my town of residence–note that I don’t call it “my” town–Trump got about 53% of 2016 votes. I voted early afternoon today, after what I assumed would be a lunch-hour crunch would’ve dissipated. In person voting was actually lighter than last time. Connecticut is one state where a mail-in ballot was sent to every registered voter, over GOP objections of course. So it looks like a lot of folks did vote early. I’ve been expecting Trump to take this town again this year, but who knows, maybe it’ll be a virtual tie.

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      2. Well, you know, it’s your classic Comfort Foods: mac & cheese, chips, choc. chip cookies. And booze! I hear booze sales are up appreciably. Along with firearms, of course. Hey, what a great combination, right?

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        1. The same thought a lot of us here in Ohio had in March when our illustrious governor shut down “nonessential” businesses, but left the liquor stores open. Alcohol sales were up some 43% in no time. And of course, gun sales have been steadily rising nationally all these months. Yeah, probably the best idea is to hide at home with the comfort food and the TV for the next few months….

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            2. Heck, with all the “internal security” agencies in the Fed. Gov’t, why not add another? BATFTP. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Toilet Paper! Hey, I just thought of something! A special Fed. sales tax on weapons could raise a lot of revenue to offset a bit of the massive National Debt. ‘Course, with sales having already surged this year prior to the election, a lot of revenue raising opportunity has already slipped by.

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    2. The new round of “Doomsday prepping,” I’m sure, is largely because Team Trump has painted a picture of “leftist extremist rioters” running wild in the streets when Trump claims victory (!!). Another factor may be the recognition that the pandemic is raging anew and things like TP may be in tight supply again soon. And they WILL be if people go back to hoarding!

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      1. I should have added that, of course, Trump has been trying to stir up waves of fear precisely in the largely white suburbs!! “After they finally burn Portland, OR to the ground, they’re coming for YOU, folks!” Not a direct quote from Trump (as far as I know!), but it’s the gist of his message.

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  15. Pingback: We’re Toast, People… – Ponderments

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