One million Americans have already cast 2020 vote in ‘historic’ early voting surge

[lizkat]

In a normal world, I would - quite possibly - have been a part of this team.

From experience, they will be receiving information throughout the night from across the country, - including their own observers - which they will seek to verify, confirm and update as they receive it; I have sat up all night on E-night compiling and writing and verifying some of the political content for the political section of such reports, often meeting an initial deadline of 7 a.m.

People like you who often take high personal risk in the interests of observing how well nations manage to perform regarding integrity of democratic elections are priceless. It's not anywhere near to "everyone" who is willing to hang out in nations where elections may be marred by violence. And unfortunately, that job remains largely invisible and thankless. So.. thank you.

That said, I'm glad you're not here observing this particular election! I have not thought that OSCE observers or for that matter voters actually waiting on line might find themselves physically endangered in a US election. And of course I'd like to think that today will be a peaceful one at all our polling places, for everyone's sake and that of our international reputation, such of it as may not be in tatters with our traditional allies abroad.

Honestly I believe most Americans are tired of the chaos and pot stirring Trump has brought to bear amongst us in the past four years. We all deserve a chance to express that opinion without interference at the polls and in counting houses after this election.

I am just not sure if that is strong enough a feeling to guide the votes of those who would rather --at the polls anyway-- paste the more reasonable face of Never-Trump Republicans and their more traditional policy planks over the radically different aims of Donald Trump.

A lot of conservative-leaning women have just had it in 2020 with the gap between traditional Republican emphasis on "family values" and the performance of this president and his administration on that score alone. Far fewer self-described conservative men have shared that kind of exasperation with pollsters in the runup to this election. It remains to be seen if there is such a thing as a "shy Biden voter".

Still, for anyone to vote for Trump in 2020 on the basis of "well he IS a Republican after all" is truly deluded in my own opinion. He made that clear from the inception of his 2016 campaign. The fact that Wall Street now expects a Biden presidency makes it pretty clear that Trump's marginal utility to the tax-cut and deregulation crowd was a one-off expectation that has been fully or nearly met but that either way the cost of tolerating his abusiveness, incompetence and erratic (at best!) policymaking has become too high.

 

[Clix Pix]

SS, like Liz, I am just as relieved that you are not putting yourself and your health in danger by being here in the US to observe this particular election! I do hope that one day you will come to the US, though, just for pleasure and to see how interesting and diverse the US is.....