In Fact It’s a Gas Price
Few have done as good a job as Ken Burns when it comes to chronicling the American story. I really hope his preview of the story of these midterms plays out as he envisions. “I’m optimistic that the American people recognize that our democratic institutions and sense of decency can bring us together. We have come back from crises before. We were more divided than we are today during the Revolution, the Civil War, Reconstruction and Vietnam. For 250 years, our country has prevailed in fits and starts, forging achievements, however imperfect, related to race and equality in American life.” NYT (Gift Article): Ken Burns: Why I’m Optimistic About the Midterms. To the extent I’m capable of the disposition, I share some of Ken Burns optimism. But I’m not optimistic because I think the voters who put Trump in office suddenly care much about our democracy or our institutions. My optimism around the midterms is driven less by high ideals and more by high gas prices, tariff-fueled inflation, the successful messaging to effort to connect the economic woes of the average American to the corruption of the first family, an ill-conceived, poorly executed, and unpopular war, and a couldn’t be worse if he tried campaign season that ended with the president discussing algae in front of the Reflecting Pool — or as Susan Glasser put it, “a closing speech on Monday afternoon which channelled that same Marie Antoinette vibe—if, that is, the condemned queen had been a disoriented octogenarian who fancied herself an expert on granite.” Burns closes his piece with this: “Most midterm elections are seen as referendums on the policies of the president. This one is no different. But there’s something more fundamental at stake here, beyond policy differences. This election is about the people — who are empowered to check our chief executive — and the candidates running for Congress, who either have sworn an oath to the Constitution or hope to do so. Whether they are prepared to honor their oath should matter enormously to everyone who values the idea of us — the idea of America.” Of course, I agree. But, at this point, I’ll settle for a midterm win by any means, and for whatever reason, necessary. In the meantime, I’ll keep hoping that Americans rediscover the idea of America. But, just in case, I’ll also keep hoping my industrial-sized storage drum of Pepto Bismol arrives before the returns start pouring in.
+ “Studies have found a significantly higher chance of arrhythmias in the weeks just before and after elections, and an increased rate of hospitalizations for heart attacks right after voting day.” How Election Day can affect your heart. (I’d advise you to avoid the stress and just not watch any of the breathless cable news coverage of the early results. But that would be futile. The heart wants what the heart wants.) NYT (Gift Article): A Guide to What We’ll Know on Election Night, Hour by Hour.
+ The surest prediction I’ve read comes from David Frum in The Atlantic (Gift Article): If the Dems take Congress, Things Are Going to Get Ugly. “He will get angrier, noisier, and crazier. He doesn’t care about the future of his party. He doesn’t care about the future of the country. He will want to punish a nation that, in his view, has ungratefully rejected him. Corruptly obtained money never feels secure. Trump, his children, and his inner group of close friends and sycophants most enriched in the past two years have a lot to worry about as the minutes of Trump’s presidency tick down. The worst is yet to come.” (In retrospect, that would have been a perfect tagline for this newsletter…)
+ As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve been too damaged to make predictions, even in an election that seems as clear as this one. “For years, I’ve been backed up, aching, and swollen with a prolonged case of blue ballots. No one wants to feel the release of a pent-up blue surge that sprays across an election map more than I do. While things seem promising enough to expect a climax that looks like a Diet Coked-up Steve Kornacki being fired out of a T-shirt cannon, I’m not willing to make any predictions.” Blue Ballots: What to Expect When You’re Electing.
