Election Day Drama
“Geopolitical Barbie” and Other Insights
So much hate speech.
And it’s from the candidates, not only their followers!
With 78 million votes cast ahead of Election Day, there clearly is a lot of interest in the presidential contest, so it’s no wonder this is forecast to be the closest election ever.
Of course, that’s based on polling, not data. The public sees polls. The campaigns see data. Big difference.
I live in Illinois, a solidly blue state, so it almost feels like your vote is meaningless, but we went early anyway and the lines on a Saturday were long. Photos in newspapers and social media show long lines the past few days in our big neighbor to the south, Chicago, too. At least
we are surrounded by swing states so you can be curious about their fates.
My daughter is flying west today for a business conference, and she’s nervous about it, I think, as are a lot of people, that “something may happen” during the day. It’s a free-floating kind of anxiety, as none of us are really sure about WHAT could actually happen, other than we fear some violence.
And I am thinking, with all this vitriol and concern and drama with assassination attempts, protesters and talking heads spewing nonsense, may actually be a sign of HEALTHY democracy.
Something along these lines is playing out on Netflix with the second season opening up this week of The Diplomat, the series about a “geopolitical Barbie” who is the U.S. ambassador to England and is also a possible vice-presidential candidate. My wife and I were in the city this weekend in Streeterville for a wedding, and as we headed up toward the Museum of Contemporary Art I spied a huge billboard for the show, with Keri Russell’s serious face on it, bigger than life.
It’s a good, binge worthy show, with lots of crackling dialogue and scurvy characters and high-minded characters striving to help improve the lives of people they’ve never met. (On a much smaller scale, my fellow volunteers and I do this whenever we work our shifts at the local food bank warehouse.) Again, I’m thinking the fact that a show like this is such a popular drama is actually a good thing for the republic.
Anyway, long, mild rainy Fall day ahead with lots of opinions being tossed about, but probably not much wisdom.
This is appointment TV tonight.
Who will win?
And when can I go to bed?