Pre-Election Day Outlook: Cautiously Optimistic

It's the day before the 2024 Presidential election and I am mildly hopeful about Harris winning and Trump losing. The polls all indicate a 50-50 race with a few trends such as Iowa favoring Harris slightly. Given Trumpy's criminal convictions, atrocious record on abortion rights and tarriffs, siding with dictators and wanting to be one, cognitive issues and being as old as dirt, I'm astonished that it's still this close. But I think she will win due to recent statements and actions in the past few days which will push the few remaining undecided voters into her camp. Speaker of the House Johnson has said they will get rid of Obamacare and the CHIPs Act if the GOP retains the House. Elon Musk has stated Trump has promised him a top position, managing government budget cuts which will result in crashing the economy. Musk has openly stated there will be a down turn in the economy, but that's OK. It's only short term and everything will work out in the end. Certifiable loon RFK Jr. claims he'll be a Health Czar and you know what that means: no more vaccines or fluoridated water. Didn't Sterling Hayden warn about that in Dr. Strangelove? 

In the past week, I've had run-ins with pro-Trumpers which froze my blood a bit. Last weekend, I unwisely engaged with a vendor here in Jackson Heights. He was an older white guy selling crap outside the supermarket. A young passer-by asked him if he wanted to buy a Harris T-shirt. I know I should have stayed out of it, but I joined in the conversation and the vendor proceeded to go off on racist rant about Trump saving the country from invading hordes of immigrants. I tried to be reasonable, citing statistics that crime was down and that communities benefitted from new people, but there was no way this guy was going to listen to logic or even a differing opinion. He denounced me as a traitor to my race and cited the fact that in 1920, Queens was 90 percent white and now it was only 52 percent or something. Therefore, the white race was being eliminated. "Wow," I said, "You're going to say that in Jackson Heights? You're going to openly admit you're a racist in this diverse neighborhood?" This guy wanted to sell his junk to people he despised and feared? I realized I never should have said anything and backed away.

A few days later, I overheard a similar confrontation and this time I kept my big fat Democratic mouth shut. I was sitting in Herald Square at the public tables and, at the table next to me, two co-workers, one white, one Hispanic, were disagreeing about the race. The white guy was playing the inflation card, saying gas was $4 a gallon (I pay $3.19), prices were all outrageous and Puerto Rico did have a garbage problem, so what's the big deal? The Hispanic guy was just smiling and shaking his head. I wanted to tell the white guy it's a good thing he lives in NY and therefore his vote doesn't count because of the electoral college. But I didn't. 

I don't know if I'll watch the election returns. The tension might destroy me. So maybe an old movie instead.