OCTOBER 31, 2020 – For a long time yesterday afternoon, helicopters hovered high overhead not far from our neighborhood. The last time that occurred was during the civil unrest in the aftermath of the George Floyd shooting late last spring. This time around, the occasion was much brighter. Vice President Biden was in town to address a small drive-in audience at the nearby fairgrounds. Hooray that Biden came to Minnesota! Booooo that the race is tight enough here that he needs to stump here in a once solidly Democratic state.
Nearly every Democrat I know is cautious, nervous, worried, and shoring up emotional defenses against a Trump upset. As I posted last week, I’ve thrown caution to the winds and anticipate a blue sweep next Tuesday. Next Tuesday. But I must confess that as the big day approaches—something that is “right around the corner”—I feel the onset of a bad case of nerves. It’s like sudden stage fright before the big recital after hundreds of hours of grinding practice; or like migrating monarchs inside my stomach as I suit up for the Birkebeiner ski marathon.
Last night Thomas Friedman appeared on Anderson Cooper’s show to issue a frightening assessment of America at the crossroads. Friedman said this could be America’s last weekend—if Biden isn’t elected president. David Gergen, a senior CNN commentator and sober advisor of many presidents also warned that if Biden’s margin isn’t decisive, we can anticipate a flood of “people in the streets” and other serious civil discord. Both Friedman and Gergen excoriated the mad man who is in the White House.
These two serious commentators are not given to crazy talk. Nor are they “radical liberals.” They’re well-informed, rational, experienced, serious, middle-of-the-road thinkers. Yet now as we approach the final curve before Election Day, these elder statesmen of their craft are talking as if they were crazy.
“America’s last weekend”? “Broad-based violence if Biden doesn’t win convincingly”? These notions by buttoned down commentators are enough to bring ample caution back to optimism. As I visited yesterday with neighbors who fear what will happen next, I acknowledged that this election will be a major turning point in our history. It will determine whether we remain the (semi-) United States or become the Disunited States; whether the pandemic wipes out one in 10 Americans and destroys the economy or we give ourselves a fighting chance against the virus; whether we succumb to reactionary and anti-democratic forces or embrace the values and interests of a majority of Americans.
As high winds rage across the Upper Midwest today, I’m gripping my hat and clutching at my hope. But I’m still betting on a blue tsunami. It’s a calculated bet, based on the historic reaction to the Republicans’ shameful attempt to suppress the most fundamental right we have as Americans: the right to vote.
As we await the Big Day, may this Halloween weekend prove to be America’s last nightmare weekend.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
