OCTOBER 24, 2026 – In every election cycle since the first one in which I participated (1972), candidates and their managers have declared that “this is the most important election in our lifetime.” I was always skeptical of the claim. In the first place, we haven’t yet lived our entire lifetime, so how would we know anything about future elections? Second, what are the agreed-upon criteria for gauging “most important,” and how might such criteria change from one election to the next? It’s far easier, I think, to evaluate on a comparative basis, past elections and their consequences. But all changed with Trump’s election to a second term—and what’s transpired since January 2025.
At the risk of embracing what is cliché, I’d say the fast-approaching mid-term truly is “the most important election in our lifetime.”
What makes it so is a combination of extremes within a single most powerful political figure—the president. Certainly, not since FDR have we had such an activist president who’s consolidated so much executive power, thanks to a quiescent Republican controlled Congress and a polarized public. Trump has used his consolidated power to an extreme, defying or ignoring all attempts to curtail it. Yet, at the same time, unlike FDR or LBJ, Trump has completely opted out of any cogent policy framework. He understands and appreciates policy no more than he understands and appreciates . . . opera. None of his predecessors—except perhaps, Warren G. Harding—showed such a complete lack of interest in policy as it applies to the welfare of the nation.
All the while, however, America’s problems mount. We’re headed toward a financial debacle over trends in deficit spending and mounting debt-to-GDP ratio, with real life financial consequences for us all. Plus, we have serious structural economic challenges that have produced a wide disparity between the super-rich and the super-poor and decimated the middle-class. And don’t forget the 800-pound gorilla of anthropogenic climate change, our continued reliance on fossil fuel energy and the dangers of unregulated AI. Last but hardly least are the high cost of housing, education and healthcare and healthcare insurance. The conjunction of these issues could well lead us down the path of France into uncharted territory.
None of the above-described problems originated with Trump, but he has done nothing to advance solutions and everything to aggravate our difficulties and blame scapegoats. On all fronts he has revealed a shocking lack of constructive leadership, and has instead, plunged us into a war from which he can’t extricate himself, actively kicked Ukraine under the bus, and undermined our institutions, public and private. Our problems and their ramifications loom too large to give the party of “Yes, Trump!” continued control of House and Senate and thus, to give King Trump himself unrestricted power not to cure our ills but to aggravate them.
But it gets even worse. On top of Trump’s lack of interest in or ability to solve any of our nation’s issues, he’s unleashed upon our heads and our future, epic portions of unnecessary nonsense: tariff terrorism, alliance smashing, immigration round-ups, mega grift and corruption. Not only do these clown acts not facilitate a cure for what ails us; they make matters much worse. If allowed to continue because Democrats fail to prevail on November 3, Trump’s personal agenda—his own enrichment and gratification—will eclipse any rational, meaningful attempts to address the nation’s major woes.
If this time around voters fail to treat this election as the most important in our lifetime (thus far), the 2028 election will turn out to be the most important—assuming the 2026 election isn’t the nation’s last.
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© 2026 by Eric Nilsson
