One hundred years ago, in 1920, the nation had just emerged from a terrible war in Europe, World War I, that had cost American forces over 100,000 lives, the worst war the U. S. had engaged in since the Civil War two generations previous. We had also just gotten through a horrifying pandemic that cost an estimated 675,000 American lives (including my young grandmother). There was a presidential election campaign that year. The Republican candidate, Warren Harding, was running on the slogan “A return to normalcy.” Given the difficult times the nation had gone through recently, the idea of returning to a less disruptive way of life would certainly be attractive. Also embedded in that message was an implied end to the “Progressive Era” of government that had started under Teddy Roosevelt in 1901, which resulted in busting trusts and preserving wilderness, among other objectives. Harding was much friendlier to wealthy business interests, and his presidency began the laissez-faire business policies that made the 1920s roar, ultimately ending in the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression.
Harding never lived to see any of that, though. He died in August 1923, before the end of his first term. Given that his administration was mired in scandals, his death conveniently allowed him to escape legal judgement for presiding over a horribly corrupt government. But I digress.
The reason I bring up Harding was his campaign theme of “A return to normalcy,” and how appealing it was at the time, as the nation was emerging from multiple crises. And here we are today, struggling with another pandemic and the economic crisis it has wrought, another federal administration mired in scandal, all perpetrated and enabled by an out-of-control, sociopathic head of state who can’t keep his mouth shut to save his political life, much to his campaign advisors’ despair. His record of illegal, dishonorable, and just plain ugly behavior keeps gushing from the news like a firehose. And then there was last night’s debate performance with its invocation of the white nationalist group the proud boys (no, they don’t get capitalized here). The universal description of Trump’s performance was “unhinged.”
My favorite description came from a focus group where one individual said Trump was behaving like a “crackhead.” There were multiple reports, several highlighted by diaries on this site, describing voters who were leaning toward voting for Trump, but changed their minds because of his repellant behavior at the debate.
People want things to be normal again, and they realize that Trump is never going to give them that. Exhibit A is the pandemic, of course. Trump’s neglect of this crisis was and continues to be purposefully malignant. He wants to kill Americans, mostly the ones who won’t vote for him, but he doesn’t even seem to mind if a few of his ardent supporters succumb to COVID-19. There is the firehose of lies. One has to wonder if he bothers to say anything that’s true or undistorted. There are the children in cages. There are the long-standing international alliances and agreements that Trump has threatened to walk out of, making the world much less safe, and destroying our trustworthiness as a nation. There is the rampant racism that he spouts continuously, and the violence he encourages among his followers. He is undermining what confidence citizens have left in the political system of the U. S. with his baseless claims of mail voting fraud and inciting his followers to threaten voters with violence.
I think a lot of voters have become sick of this. They want things to be normal again—just the thing Harding promised 100 years ago. I don’t think a lot of them even care about policy right now. They want a president with hinges, not like the one we have now. Fortunately, Biden has shown ample evidence of not just having hinges, but being even better than the average human being. He is compassionate and empathic, and he has a lot of plans to make our lives better if he gets elected. And I am confident that he will be elected once the dust settles.
This nightmare will end because a majority of voters are determined to do what they must to end it.
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Top Comments (September 30, 2020):
From elenacarlena:
I'd like to nominate BlackSheep1 for Top Comment in my diary, "Advice to Joe Biden on the Day of the First Debate (and of course, pooties and puppies!)" In the diary, I focused on how we should be dealing with this Covid world. In their comment, BlackSheep1 lays out an ideal vision for what we should be shooting for after Covid, especially in terms of economic and environmental advances. Well worth a read.
From andvegantoo:
This comment by Roadie in Laura Clawson’s second liveblog of last night’s debate.
Highlighted by lisastar88:
This comment by Magnifico in Joan McCarter’s front page post on Amy Coney Barrett refusing to recuse herself on election cases.
Highlighted by raboof:
This comment by originalcinner in torta’s recommended post on David Frum’s opinion of last night’s debate.
Highlighted by Janesaunt:
This comment by USExpat in Janesaunt’s post on Hispanic Heritage Month.
Top Mojo (September 29, 2020):
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Top Photos (September 29, 2019):