<Kamala Harris Continues Making Her Case...>
<A Harris flyer with a specific mission, namely, give the last-minute voters whatever nudge they still need, to get to the polls -- and, of course, cast their ballot for her. All the necessary details are right upfront (above), with the final kicker of encouragement on the back (below).
As strange as it sounds, there are still people out there who haven't committed themselves either way, as they wrestle with the various issues preoccupying them -- the cost of living, the slaughter in Gaza, whether Harris can muster the necessary juice to capitalize on her campaign promises, and so on.
As one comic (whose name escapes me) said, on "The Daily Show," "What could there possibly left to find out about these people, how they stack the inside of a dishwasher?" But I honestly wouldn't dog people who identify that way -- when it comes to politics, we all have varying levels of comfort, and/or discomfort. Everyone has to decide what level they can live with, in their mind.>
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<Michigan Supreme Court, Reproductive Rights>
<Nowhere has the Democratic ground game seemingly invested more effort on any issue than -- surprise, surprise -- abortion, which paid such dividends in the 2022 midterms after the infamous Dobbs decision.
The pundits, as they often do, seem dismissive of a repeat, but the comments that I've read -- of articles focusing on uncommitted and undecided voters -- lead me to think otherwise.
After all, images of Republican-leaning women getting just as queasy as their Democratic counterparts about the idea of an America committing itself to forced birth don't seem that much of a stretch, right? In any event, this mailer showcases Harris's efforts to link herself with reproductive rights, via Michigan's Supreme Court candidates who embrace them, while throwing plenty of shade on their counterparts (O'Grady, Fink).>
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<Example of another mailer, this one making a more explicit connection between the Republican nominees for the Michigan Supreme Court, and their counterparts on the national stage (Mike Rogers, Donald Trump). The implication here is obvious ("They're all on the same team, so -- AVOID!")>
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<State Representative (38th District):
One Positive, One Negative Snapshot>
<Example of a more upbeat flyer from Democratic State Representative Joey Andrews, complete with the obligatory family shot (above), followed by a quick rundown of his more relevant policy stances on the rear (below). What a contrast this effort makes from the one that follows, as you'll see...>
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<Once again, this mailer hammers Andrews's Republic opponent, South Haven area money manager Kevin Whiteford, for taking an overly punitive stance against abortion, and -- as the other bullet points suggest -- a bit too much enthusiasm for other aspects of his party's program. Add a photo made to look distinctly unflattering, and you're good to go, or so it seems. Another snapshot of how national issues find expression at the down ballot level.>
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<Jill Stein Returns For An Encore>
<For all the fuss made over third party candidates this year, it seems fair to say they haven't made much noise, presumably due to so many locking in with the major party nominees (Harris, Trump), and a conscious desire, perhaps, to avoid the fallout of 2016 -- when some blamed Stein, the Green Party's nominee, for helping to siphon enough votes from Hillary Clinton, enabling Trump to slither across the finish line.
This time around, like her cohorts (Cornel West, Oliver Chase), Stein's return is playing out to a more muted response, while RFK Jr. is faring slightly better, due to his full-throated support of Trump (having dropped out, where else could he go, right?).
How much drawing power Stein still commands remains to be seen, but this mailer clearly shows where she expects to try and find an opening, taking dead aim at Harris's stance on Gaza.
This being the only one I've seen from her, it's fair to say that Stein is running a shoestring campaign -- well, maybe more like a shoelace, perhaps -- so give her points for trying, I suppose. I have yet to see mailers from Chase, West, or any of the other third party upstarts.>
<Coda: Randall Terry, Eyebrow Raiser>
Now that the big day has arrived, I felt tempted to write some type of suitably apocalyptic, seemingly all-encompassing editorial, most likely as an addition to our "Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow" creeps series, but ended up ditching the idea, for the usual boring reasons.
First of all, considering all the angst over the darkness of a potential Trump restoration, anything I'd say would seem repetitive, and not terribly useful. It's not like there's an upside to the potential imposition of a Trump police state, right? That is, unless you count numbered uniforms and the lack of needing any to-do lists -- because those will come straight from the Dear Leader, right?
Second, you can only outrun so much, handicap so much, and futureproof so much. Although it's natural for the commentariat to draw whatever parallels it can, between the latest race and the last one, every election ends up differing -- sometimes, in small ways, other times, with a more significant twist. At times, there's no rhyme or reason (for further reference, see "How Is It This Close?", below).
As a friend of mine pointed out recently, even if Trump and his shock troops attempt another all-out assault on the Capitol, "there's plenty of people doing time in prison because of it, (over the January 6, 2021 attempt), and the cops and the military will be ready for it." True enough, I agreed; I think it's more likely that Trump's legal team tries to send some sort of made-up case to the Extreme Court (excuse me, the Supreme Court).
After all, they've already carved a potential glide path for him to dictatorship, out of thin air; what's a little constitutional origami among friends, right? Especially when Trump appointed three of them. Or maybe, just maybe, the pollsters are wrong, and Harris's showing will prove strong enough, that the Extreme Supremes sit by their phones, waiting for the call that never comes. We'll see soon enough.
Lastly, though, is the notion thar real life apocalypses are way scarier than anything we could ever second guess, or conjure up. I got a reminder Sunday night, as I sat here, pecking away, when a voiceover cut in, after the 10 o'clock news. I'm paraphrasing from memory, but it sounded something like this:
"The following presentation contains extremely graphic images. Viewer discretion is advised. WXYZ is obliged to give air time, to whatever candidates request it, and takes no control over their content. The following views aired do not reflect those of management, or staff, at WXYZ."
For those reading between the lines, the inference isn't hard to miss: It's a political ad, okay? This wasn't our idea, either, so don't flood the station with calls, if you toss your cookies, or get really upset. Whatever happens, don't blame us. Before I could ponder the point any further, the political ad flickered to life, flashing image after image of dead, mangled babies, each one seemingly more twisted and misshapen than the last.
Constitution Party candidate Randall Terry was making his case for a presidential promotion with all the subtlety of a brick upside the head -- though I imagine he lobbed a few, during his '90s heyday as the leader of Operation Rescue, as it carried out its relentless intimidation campaign against abortion clinics, doctors, and women nationwide.
Terry's face flickered into view amid all these disturbing images -- shaggier and hairier than I remembered, from his '90s heyday, yet brimming with all the determination that only the truly unhinged can muster, as he gravely intoned: "This is the last bastion of free speech. The only place that you can still have free speech is on a licensed station as a qualified federal candidate."
Then, he went right into his pitch: "A vote for Kamala is a vote for continuing the apocalypse against these babies." And so on, and so forth, wash, rinse, repeat. Nothing that we haven't already heard before, but will undoubtedly some disturb some, just the same (see the WTHR link below, to find out how you can weigh in on the ad).
Seeing Terry's ad reminded me, though, that for all the relentless gazing directed toward Trump, there's always a fresh nightmare lurking around the corner, ready to take his place. At some point, Trump will eventually, finally, mercifully, fade from the public square. For the two major parties, it's an outcome that will undoubtedly scramble the script - yet, as the likes of Terry make amply clear, there's always someone who may leave us wishing, "Hey, remember when Donald Trump was all we had to worry about? Boy, those sure were the good old days."
For me, the biggest takeaway of this particular election cycle comes down to one major realization. We've all heard the oft-quoted cliche, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." That same verdict, it's safe to say, goes double for our allies, though.
As I've told people, over and over and over again, throughout this campaign season, Batman, Superman, and James Bond aren't coming to our rescue, to make things right. Only we can save us, from us, even if that doesn't happen to be the advice we want to hear. Like it or not, a refusal to do the required heavy lifting isn't optional, if we really want a functioning democracy. And keep it in sound condition, too.
In the end, we are only as good as the vigilance we exercise -- and if we rise to the occasion, there's no telling what we can do. If we check it at the door? Then we have no one else to blame but ourselves, for whatever chaos that such a dereliction of duty unleashes. Let us hope, after today, that it does not become the epitaph that eternally defines us. --The Reckoner
