AUGUST 12, 2026 – Yesterday I expressed an unsettled feeling about the midterm elections, prompted by NYT columnist Thomas Friedman’s suggestion that they’ll be “razor close.” Today, however, I’m feeling slightly more sanguine, thanks to a bit of anecdotal triangulation.
First, a “most favored nation” business client of mine—(a client who’s smart and interesting, good at what he does, personable, fun to work with, appreciative) revealed how upset he is with the current regime. His opinions are notable, since I’m pretty sure I know how he voted for president—three times in a row.
Second, while driving to my dental appointment this morning, I heard an excellent discussion on public radio about the results of yesterday’s (Minnesota) primary. Some listener calls were taken. Among them was a guy who’d just returned from the annual motorcycle rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. He said he’d been to Sturgis eight or nine years in a row, and over 90% of the attendees have been big-time Trumpers, sporting all the usual “Made in China” merch emblazoned with the Trump MAGA brand. But not this year, he said. “The brand” was conspicuously absent.
Third, upon returning home after the appointment, I received an email from my good friend Mike Fishbein, who imparted several noteworthy points: 1. Though Friedman gets high points as a journalist, his track record as a political prognosticator is less than stellar; 2. Nate Silver’s prediction methods—based in part on techniques developed by Philip Tetlock and Daniel Gardner, as described in their 2016 book, Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction—are sounder and more accurate than Thomas Friedman’s. And the bottom line: Nate Silver is more optimistic than Friedman.
I took additional heart from the convincing loss of “MyPillow” founder and leading Trump sycophant, Mike Lindell, in his bid to be the Republican gubernatorial candidate in November. Given his shameless record of “over-the-top” support for Trump, Lindell easily won the president’s stamp of approval (if you go to mikelindellgov.com, you’ll be greeted not by Mike Lindell, but by a huge mug shot of Trump!). What’s so sweetly comical about all this, however, is that Lindell lost by over 10 percentage points, which translates to over 45,000 votes—and yet . . . here’s the cornball syrup . . . he won’t concede, because he’s alleging election fraud!
This is cotton-candy-at-the-Minnesota-State-Fair-sweet. Why? Because he’s alleging fraud against a fellow Republican! Thus, the party of election denialism is getting a dose of its own medicine.
If I were a serious Republican in Minnesota, long awaiting a Republican victory in a statewide contest, I’d be incensed that a buffoon such as the Pillow Tycoon would make such a mockery of democracy in our state. And I’d be even more upset that my party is beating the Somali fraud drum to the breaking point, when sooner or later, the Democrats—look to Amy Klobuchar and Peggy Flanagan to do this in the fall campaign—will turn that issue on its head and remind voters of what a corrupt, self-enriching grifter currently occupies the White House and with absolutely no resistance from Republicans in Congress.
Okay, now back to those model sailboats.
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© 2026 by Eric Nilsson
