DON'T HEAD FOR THE STORM CELLAR YET. BIDEN CAN - AND MUST - WIN  I HAVE FRIENDS who are resigned to a Trump victory – and for sound reasons. They believe that Donald Trump has momentum in the presidential campaign; that Joe Biden is stalled; and that the polls are stubborn in asserting that a psychopath is leading. So, it makes sense that preparations are in order: Psychologically, to get through a terrible election night; Tactically, to survive a Trump catastrophe. If you see a tornado coming .... My view is different. I believe that Biden will win. More about that later. Even if the election looks seems close or worse – like a Trump landslide – it is too soon to head for the storm shelters. Call me crazy, but I believe this fact: the only effective way to survive a Trump second term is to make sure there isn’t one.  TRUMP, arriving at the Manhattan trial earlier this month I DON’T BLAME PEOPLE for being worried, which is too mild a word for the terror that vaporizes our brains, the thought of a return Trump presidency. If you are a Biden supporter, there's already a lot that's gone wrong, and now we'll have to contend with all the terrible events that surely will unfold the rest of this spring, summer and fall. There's no question that Biden’s road to a second term is just like one of my state's infamously defective highways: nasty potholes, time-bomb engineering, time-wasting detours, confusing highway signs, all of which must be navigated by an elderly driver who may not have figured out his car's GPS system or remembered to charge his EV. Roadblock One is the Constitution. I'm sorry to say this. We were taught that the nation's central founding document is a work of genius, a miraculous tapestry of checks and balances that guarantee perpetual democracy. But we now know that the Constitution is an antique, like one of those family heirlooms that visitors are warned not to sit on, too fragile to carry the weight of their original purpose. You know the major problem: a presidential candidate can win the most votes overall, but lose the "electoral" count, so that the “winner” is decided by six or so special "battleground" states. When Biden won four years ago, he did so not just because he got 7 million more total votes than Trump, but because he won the battlegrounds, three of them by a combined total of only 43,809 votes. Polls say that, at the moment, Biden is losing in most of the battlegrounds, and that's been the case for months. No wonder discouragement is setting in. There are lots more wrong turns that could produce an Election of Doom: People may decide not to vote, seeing Biden and Trump as too yesterday, too alike, too unlikable. These abstainers probably would vote for Biden, while Trump voters never have second, third or twenty-third thoughts. Then there are the "principled" voters. Worried their souls will be corrupted by choosing either Biden or Trump, they might seek to protect their moral immorality by voting for someone else. Anyone will do: crazy Robert Kennedy Jr. Or how about write-in choices like Ben, the lovable option. Ben is our family cat. Ben will take votes away from Biden, not Trump. Gloomier and gloomier. Inflation. Gaza. Inflation. The Border. Inflation. Black and Hispanic voters determined, in this election, not to be taken for granted. Inflation. A Biden flub at a debate. Trump’s flubs don't matter. Inflation. How about that Manhattan trial? What will an acquittal mean? A hung jury? Even a conviction? All good. Because when you're a Trump voter, nothing matters. Anyway, come Nov. 5, the Trump trial will have faded from the national memory. Stormy who? Worry away, Democrats and anyone else who cares whether democracy survives, whether the climate can be rescued and whether the U.S. can continue its imperfect pledge to try to be better this year than last year.  JOE BIDEN, wearing signature sunglasses, with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in 2023 WHY AM I OPTIMISTIC?
Because Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. That's a fact. He is too corrupt, too cruel, too inept, too evil. It simply cannot be allowed to happen. I'm optimistic because Joe Biden has been a competent president, and will be the same for another four years. Joey's not a perfect president now, nor will he be in 2025. There never has been President Perfect. I don't like Biden's Gaza strategy or China tariffs. But he makes some historic choices, like his defense of Ukraine, the climate and democracy. Across the country, people - smart people, determined people, imaginative people - are working hard to reelect Biden and keep the nuclear codes out of a madman's hands. I believe there are more people of good will than otherwise, and you have to factor them into any election equation. We pay attention to members of Trump's cult and to his Republican opportunists, but there are other powerful forces at work, and they count. Many Americans - most Americans - believe in justice, more than are committed to a legal system that punishes only the weak and the enemies of the powerful, but pardons the rest. More people are committed to climate-saving technology and policies than support a poisoned, burning planet. More people want to move forward with civil rights than hope to return to the Jim Crow days. More people dream of an economy that provides homes, food, education and medical care for all Americans than would rather have millions living on sidewalks, going hungry, growing up ignorant and dying too early. I’m betting that there are lots of people, who once were embarrassed by cliches like “patriotism,” “the flag” and “citizenship,” but who now see that their country is in peril, so they've decided that to defend it. The election of 2024 seems complicated, but it comes down to a series of yes or no choices:
Even an optimist knows the outcome of this election isn't certain - only that it’s possible. This is no time to head for the storm cellar.
1 Comment
Jody McPhillips
5/27/2024 05:42:40 am
great timing on this. Memorial Day reminds us what is important in human life, and how many people worked so hard to give us this imperfect, glorious country. My neighbor Mr. Felix, for example. I groused (internally) late into the night about the day-long gathering at his house, when dozens of loud, excited people gabbled in Spanish and ate and listened to (fortunately good) music. This was the second day of Latin Summer Fest Kickoff. (For whatever reason, they prefer to sit in chairs in their driveway rather than their nice backyard--they might as well be IN my bedroom). Mr. Felix works for the Providence Department of Public Works, and I am glad I am not Kathy Gregg, because city trucks have been known to appear at the house on questionable missions. But Mr. Felix also maintains a spit-and-polish house and yard, and snow-blows our whole corner sidewalk on occasion. He and his extended family now own three houses in close proximity to ours, and run 4 (count them! 4!!!) possibly unlicensed day-care facilities. All those babies represent America's future, which will not include Trump. How will Mr. Felix vote? I don't know, but I do know he likes us and he cannot miss the two Biden lawn signs on our lawn. I will put up with a summer of salsa in exchange for new blood and belief in America, while the forces of evil barricade themselves in gated communities with their guns and their freak flags. Happy Memorial Day! Leave a Reply. |
BRIAN C. JONES
I'VE BEEN a reporter and writer for 60 years, long enough to have learned that journalists don't know very much, although I've met some smart ones.
Mainly, what reporters know comes from asking other people questions and fretting about their answers. This blog is a successor to one inspired by our dog, Phoebe, who was smart, sweet and the antithesis of Donald Trump. She died Feb. 3, 2022, and I don't see getting over that very soon. Occasionally, I think about trying to reach her via cell phone. |
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