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.

Politics By Other Means

I often fantasized spending one year in a foreign country where they didn’t celebrate the same holidays or follow the same obligatory rituals. I should have been more careful what I wished for, as now, everything has changed, and I don’t have to go anywhere.

I think political conventions, especially the most recent ones, have been sort of useless. Truth be told, I have always had a little bit of a problem with them, stemming from early childhood, when my favorite afternoon children’s TV shows were pre-empted by days of convention coverage. Boring speeches by old people. It all seemed to take forever. I won’t tell you which administration was in power, but I can say that TV was a fairly young technology.

At least in the old days, party conventions were necessary for delegates to agree on a presidential nominee, so there was some suspense involved. They weren’t the long infomercials they have turned into. By necessity this year, conventions will be decidedly unconventional, as we won’t see thousands of sign-carriers crammed into a big hall. Mr. Eastwood really would have to talk to an empty chair. Instead we will have the virtual version.

I do think it’s kind of a relief in a way, though we will all drown in media “hit pieces” that are much more hyperbolic than usual. On the other hand, we need to relieve boredom, as this summer includes life without the Olympics.

The road to November will be definitely less-traveled, but the destination remains the same. At this writing, Joe Biden has not picked his running mate yet. Above all else, she (how many times have we said THAT?) will need to be not just smart and aligned with his views but a spare President, able to take the wheel if something happens to him.

And it’s not just about him and her. With all the talent in his party, Mr. Biden should not be hesitant to drop a few names as to who the members of his cabinet  might be – for no other reason than to convey to the opposition that it’s facing not just two people but a team.

In my own opinion, should Mr. Biden win, there may be a need for a whole new cabinet secretary to head an agency called the Department of Undo.

 

America, and the World, Have Talent

How many sentences begin with, “A Facebook friend told me about…”? True for some of you at least. But such a friend introduced me to an FB page called Socially Distant Fest.  Run by a Georgia startup called Stay Home Productions, LLC, Socially Distant Fest operates on the principle of providing a virtual stage for artists and performers currently unable to appear before live audiences to entertain from home.

These are not people we have heard of. They are primarily regular folks unable to get to their day jobs, so they have time on their hands. About 99 percent seem to be singers who play acoustic guitar, but not all. Also featured are those who play other instruments, like the piano, the harp, and even something called the theremin. There is an 11-year old boy raising money to buy a new drum set. Yes, these folks can raise money through a “virtual tip jar” system. While most are musicians, I have run across a couple of Tarot card readers, a woman who dances by her pool with curved light sticks, and an artist who makes patterns on fabric. I also found someone who leads medit

So are these people worth watching? I don’t think the site administrators let everyone on, but the vetting process, if any, doesn’t appear too restrictive. The quality of performers is surprisingly high, though.

Among my personal favorites are two sisters in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina who sing almost every day and have built up a large following. But it’s not just America that has talent. There is a young woman in Transylvania – yes, THAT Transylvania – who sings jazz, pop, rock, even a little rap, in both English and Hungarian, her native language. But don’t worry. While now Transylvanian, she does perform during the day as well as at night, and Dracula lives (so to speak) at least 100 miles away.

Many of these amateur or semi-pro musicians are covering hit songs, but a surprising number are showing off original work. Maybe, before the coronavirus, they were reduced to making their own solitary YouTube posts, but now there is a stage for them. I recommend Socially Distant Fest if you’re tired of the politics, COVID rants, memes with quotes from unknown sages, invitations to share, quizzes to find out which superhero you might otherwise be, or, of course, the endless parade of selfies. I find Socially Distant Fest a refreshing escape, kind of needed right now.