The Least Important Election of Our Lifetime

A balanced perspective on electoral politics

If you’re here for the clickbait, you’re welcome.

Of course, my title is a play on the trope because every four years we are told “this is the most important election of our lifetime.”

And, of course, such pronouncements cannot all be true. Unless you think elections are getting more meaningful over time.

Well, there are a lot of things that have been happening to our elections over time. Trends have been frighteningly consistent. But it points in the opposite direction: they’ve figured out how to make elections as meaningless as possible.

The current election cycle is a great example, since it is arguably the most easily winnable election in US history—even compared to 2016. Yet, the polls have been a dead heat the entire time, both before and after the incumbents changed horses.

Given that the entirety of the incumbent platform is “we’re not Trump,” it is amazing that they are managing to fail to make the case. How much lower could the bar go?

It almost seems like they are trying to lose.

I'd rather vote for something I want and not get it than vote for something I don't want, and get it. - E. Debs