100 DAYS
“With 100 days remaining until Election Day, voters in three critical battleground states swing in former Vice President Joe Biden’s way, according to new Arizona, Florida and Michigan CNN polls conducted by SSRS. In Florida (51% Biden to 46% for President Donald Trump) and Arizona (49% Biden to 45% Trump), registered voters break in Biden’s favor by single-digit margins, while in Michigan, Biden’s lead stands at 52% to 40%, matching the national average for the presidential race per the most recent CNN Poll of Polls.”
Time for celebration? Hardly. Politico points out that “[t]he poll also indicated Trump is the favored candidate on economic issues, while Biden would be the better candidate at handling race relations and the coronavirus pandemic.” This is as bewildering as it is infuriating to me. It’s also dangerous.
Yes, now that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit and Trump has bungled the recovery, we’re in dangerous proximity to another financial crisis. But even before the pandemic-induced economic downturn, workers struggled to find jobs that could pay the bills, and Trump’s claims that Americans were living through “the greatest economy in the history of the U.S.” were profoundly misleading. For a number of reasons, Trump’s economic actions and policies were failing the vast majority of Americans.
So, how voters favor Trump over Biden on economic issues even amid Trump’s massive failures for the economy is something beyond my understanding. This is potentially very dangerous for Biden because, at least anecdotally, many voters vote for the candidate who they feel will benefit the economy and lower taxes. Moreover, Trump is ahead of Biden in Ohio in one new poll — a state which, for whatever reason, almost always votes the way of the president elect.
In short, this is not a time to celebrate. Democrats have a staggering penchant for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. This cannot happen again; the nation simply could not afford it. You must register to vote if you haven’t already. You must register others to vote, too. At this point, it’s more than a civic duty — it’s duty to everyone and everything to do what’s right.
Democracy thrives in snarkiness