I'm consistently wrong enough that it feels like jinxing it to say out loud, but I'm optimistic about this election. Not even guardedly so - genuinely optimistic.
I saw the 2020 election as something like a backstop for Democrats. They had nothing. Absolutely nothing. The single reason to vote for Joe Biden was that he wasn't Trump. He wasn't going to fix anything, he didn't excite anyone, but he wasn't Trump. That was all. It turned out to be
just barely enough.
I see this election as the opposite. This is the red backstop. Anyone still voting Republican, I don't think you're going to reach. The GOP still has Trump hanging around their neck, and holy dancing cannolis he's worse than ever. I don't need to waste electrons describing what a soiled diaper with a wig this jackass is or how everyone knows it whether they admit it or not. He's literally getting shot at by his own supporters and no one cares.
Meanwhile Harris has been running a more or less flawless campaign. I can't think of a single thing I'd do differently and you all know
I got opinions. She's smart and genuine and charismatic, she's engaging the Zoomers, her twitter feed is one continuous burn that
started with murder and just never let up. She had the choice of a sensible, boring, focus grouped, demographically motivated VP pick but instead went with America's Dad who was an instant success. Everyone from Taylor Swift to Dick Cheney is on her side. Jimmy Carter is hanging on to life just to vote for her.
And above everything still is the abortion issue.
Dobbs was a victory for Republican rat****ery, but it's turned out to be a pyrrhic one. Abortion is turning out Dem voters in droves.
The only thing that doesn't jibe with all of that is the polling, that consistently points to a neck and neck race. I've heard some harsh criticisms of modern polling methodology, but I'm not a pollster myself, I'm not going to point fingers. Either I'm deeply, deeply wrong or they are, and all's I can say is I'm not being paid to sell headlines. Maybe we are only two points ahead, but let's vote like we're two points behind anyway.