Election Day is Here! (Finally)

Nice advance.

All the money is spent. All the ads have run. The last few rallies, phone calls, and texts are hoping to squeeze those last few votes out in races up and down the ballot. In more normal times, the end of a presidential campaign is simultaneously exciting, terrifying, and anti-climatic.

Late tonight, if Vice President Kamala Harris is declared the winner (as I believe she will be) her campaign will, save the lawyers, operations people, and accountants, cease to be a functioning political organization. Most of the staff will prepare to go one of two places: The inaugural committee or the transition. One group plans for the peaceful transfer of power while the other builds a government.

Down in Florida, Team Trump will prepare for their leader’s inevitable claim of victory, even in the face of (another) defeat. Trump’s campaign, however, doesn’t see Election Day as the end of the race. For them today is just the end of one phase and the beginning of another: The attempt by Donald Trump, the Republican Party, MAGA, and its adherents, to disqualify the results of a free and fair election (again.)

Much of the country doesn’t need to be convinced that Trump will declare victory, regardless of outcome. It is indicative of how warped our collective sense of politics has become that it’s treated as just one more wacky, unbelievable thing Cheato does.

To make sure Harris and Walz are elected, GET OUT AND VOTE if you haven’t already. Make sure your friends and family cast their ballots, too. Don’t be the person who sat it out and watched your state slip away by a few thousand voters.

Put Your Phone Down!

In a time before the internet, email, texts, and social media, my dad (a veteran of many campaigns) would go to the movies on Election Day. There isn’t really much to do, after all. If you haven’t done it by the first Tuesday in November, you’re not going to get it done before the polls close.

The algorithms will be full tilt tomorrow as Elon, Zuck and the rest of our Dr. Evil overlords drive fear, anger, and negativity further into our political bloodstream. There is good news on this front: The devices we treat as appendages are not actually attached to our bodies. Also, you can turn them off!

Give yourself a break from the insanity for a few hours. Resist the temptation to sit in front of a screen and watch correspondents stand in front of polling places repeating the same thing four times an hour. They don’t know any more than you do. The anchors and talking heads are filling time like its Super Bowl Sunday, but you know, for the future of the country and the world.

Sitting around fretting all day won’t change anything. As Doris Day sang, Que Sera Sera: Whatever Will Be, Will Be.

See Something, Say Something

If you are an elections worker or poll watcher, let me say thank you. You are the glue that holds our democracy together. If you’re a voter and you see something that doesn’t look right, find an official or law enforcement officer and let them know.

Trump and Company have primed the pump for trouble. We’re unlikely to see organized gangs like the Proud Boys running around. Instead, if something happens, it will probably be individuals driven to dangerous, illegal, or violent action after months of radicalizing Republican rhetoric.

If you do happen to be online tomorrow, take everything you see and hear with an entire shaker of salt. There will be bots and bad actors galore posting bogus, misleading, and fake videos or content as they further gin up millions of Americans.

The Feds are on the case.

Closing Thoughts (Before Tomorrow)

Regardless of the outcome, the fight to protect, preserve, and defend American democracy is not over. Far from it. When Trump loses, the MAGA movement will not fold up its tents. In fact, they will double and triple down as they attempt to immediately disqualify Kamala Harris. It’s not hard to imagine a world where Rupert Murdoch would prefer four years of attacking the Harris-Walz administration over four more years of defending Trump.

We’ll get to all that, though.

For now, get out and vote, keep your head clear, and we’ll talk tomorrow.

Reed

News and Notes

Check out the Election Eve edition of The Home Front Podcast! Journalist Abigail Tracy and I discuss what we could see tonight, Trump’s likely moves, and what the polling meant (if anything.)

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