Not So Fast

We voters are under some unusual pressures this year. In her eloquent convention speech, Michelle Obama asked those who plan on voting by mail to apply early for their absentee ballots, if they don’t already vote that way, and turn them around quickly. With doubts in play about the US Postal Service, that sounds like good advice. The Postmaster General has said that planned cutbacks on postal service were being suspended until after the election, which is a good thing.

Even so, I hate to be a cold water-thrower here, but there is one downside to being in a hurry to return mail-in ballots. There are many other things on the average ballot besides the Presidential race. US Senate, Congress, county board of supervisors, city council, school board and other local contests will also be happening. And then there are the ballot measures, statewide and local.

In the not-so-old days, we had the luxury of time to do a little research, listen to the arguments back and forth, and cogitate before casting our votes. I could always count on my local newspapers (remember those?) to publish their list of endorsements and their reasons for coming to their conclusions. Maybe I’m living in a bubble (along with the others we’re in these days), but if I were one of those running for the city council or advocating a vote on a critical ballot measure, I might be saying, “Hey, don’t forget about me!” What’s important on a local level may be drowned out by the noise generated by top-of-the-ticket races.

A small point, but if your absentee ballot does come in the mail, I’d advise you to scan a copy or two in your printer, if you have one,  and use the copies to practice on. I for one, hate filling out forms and have been known to check the wrong boxes. You don’t want to rush through filling out the real ballot. If you “spoil” it, it may take time to get another one.

I have a reputation among my friends for worrying about nothing. Maybe this is just another example. But I’m only trying to remind myself, and perhaps a few others, that this election season is not all about Donald Trump. Isn’t there enough of that noise already?

 

Getting It Right

 

Among the most important choices Presidents make is the one before they’re even elected: their running mate. In choosing Kamala Harris, Joe Biden broke new ground in many ways.

Clearly, Biden didn’t really have a choice about picking a woman of color. He’d already said “woman” earlier, and he did owe it to black voters after Congressman Jim Clyburn’s endorsement pushed him to the top of the Democratic field. But there were, to my mind, some unusual elements here, more about Mr. Biden than Ms. Harris.

First, he knew full well that as the time window narrowed, the smart money was largely  on Harris. I think what many men in his position might have done was pick one of the lesser-known black women, just to show his independence. He didn’t.

Second, other men might have shied away from someone as attention-worthy as Harris, so as not to be outshone, or go with a safer choice who wouldn’t talk back to him if they disagreed. But he didn’t, almost as if he wouldn’t mind that, or even wanted it, if that’s what he thought it would take to win. He truly seems to appreciate the energy that Harris brings.

Finally, he maintained control of the process, weighing all of his choices carefully and keeping the final selection a secret.

Knowing that he might not be seeking a second term, he likely knew that his choice wasn’t simply of a  team member but possibly the next President. In short, he really got that it was not all just about him. You can’t say that about many politicians.

For her part, Harris isn’t just black, she is of mixed race, with one immigrant parent from Jamaica and the other from India. As has been pointed out, this makes her attractive to a broader group of voters. And while the opposition will throw everything it has at her, it’s well-known that she knows how to return the fire.

Democrats in general are excited by Biden’s choice, but now the challenge is harnessing that excitement. I have an analogy for this that is unfortunate, but when I think about what’s needed to win, it’s this: I will never forget the pictures from 2011 of the tidal wave that struck northern Japan after the massive earthquake. The water rolled inexorably over the countryside, and nothing stopped it. There wasn’t anything solid enough, tall enough, or that weighed enough to keep from being swept away.

It may not be the best comparison, but the tide of voters will have to look exactly like that, strong enough to overwhelm every artificial barrier to exercising their legal right. If there’s a time when voting is an absolute obligation, we are in it.

 

 

 

The Vote Needs Rocking

I remember one Election Day many years ago, when I was a working journalist, It was near the end of my workday, and I was about to leave the office and go to the polls, when a major story broke. Naturally, circumstances required me to cover it, and when it was wrapped up, I discovered that I had missed the closing of the polls.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a big election, but I didn’t want that to happen again, so I became an absentee voter, and have cheerfully mailed my votes in ever since. Still, I had relatives who enjoyed the tome-honored personal tradition of going to the polls on Election Day to exercise their constitutional right.

I appreciate tradition, but that word is often defined as doing something a certain way because it has always been done that way. As I have said, this will be an unconventional year, literally and figuratively, thanks to COVID. The once-crucial gatherings at which the parties picked their Presidential candidates may just be a contest to see who puts on the bigger Zoom meeting.

Even Election Day itself has lost much of its traditional meaning. It once was the day on which almost everyone voted; now it’s just a point on the calendar at the end of a long process that will start weeks earlier, as early-voting periods begin. And it may not end on Election Night either, as all those new mail-in votes come in and will require counting.

I have a long election wish list. First, I would like to see the process of qualifying to vote and voting as nationalized as we can make it. The laws from state to state should be as similar as the rules of the road are for drivers. I’d like to see primaries held regionally in quick succession - I think Gerald Ford came up with that idea. And finally, the Electoral College should go away, the popular vote should decide the Presidential race, with the proviso that the finish be sort of like tennis: the winner must beat the closest opponent by at least 3 percentage points, and if not, a runoff between the top two.

But back to Earth, and the real election facing us. Debates continue over who gets to vote, when, and by what means, none of which we may resolve right now. But my hope is that the victor in the Presidential race gets there by so crushing a landslide that all complaints about process, disenfranchisement, or rigging are overwhelmed by sheer numbers. This is one year where what we need is an open-and-shut case, a slam-dunk, an end-of-story. It is then that we will know what kind of a country we’re living in.