The election season began with two old goats – one was President and the other had been. Although there was only about three years difference (the ex was younger), the Donald projected an image of a considerably younger man than Biden. The (first?) turning point occured during a debate. Biden appeared to be “out of it”, for the most part. So much so that the Democratic party leadership (along with rank-and-file Dems reached by pollsters) concluded that Joe must go. Understandably, Biden insisted he was staying, until he wasn’t.
Meanwhile, Vice-President Kamala Harris stayed out of the fray. Immediately following his withdrawal from the race, Biden endorsed Harris as his successor, and, in a breathtaking set of maneuvers, Democrats fell into line. The party’s convention functioned, effectively, as a coronation. Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota was selected as Harris’ running mate.
These events effectively turned the race on its head. Trump, who even took a bullet and became the odds-on favorite (it didn’t miss by much), found himself almost speechless. The jolt of energy to the Democrats was unreal. The Republican Party added to its dysfunction by selecting JD Vance as VP running mate (what does JD stand for? Apparently, John David. Why hide it? Vance seems to have trouble selecting names for himself).
On to Phase Three. Trump needs the election to stay out of prison. With momentum shifting to Harris, he decided to debate her. Big mistake. While he mostly sulked on the sidelines, Harris landed blow after blow (she should know how. She was, after all, a prosecutor). A highlight of the debate? We learned all about Haitian migrants eating cats and dogs. Doesn’t appear to be true, but there are many who buy into it, anyway.
So. The beat goes on. Things seemed to go on their nasty way, until the Secret Service, while on patrol at a golf course near Mar A Lago, discovered an assault rifle pointed at Trump! No shots were fired. The shooter was apprehended nearby. Alive, for a change.
Almost a fortnight has elapsed without anything overly strange happening – at least at the top of the tickets. Oh, did you hear? Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is being considered for a sort of health gatekeeper in a Trump Administration. Hope it doesn’t cause too many premature fatalities (this is the antivax guy, after all). Speaking of deaths, we are hearing about quite a few among women since the Dobbs decision. Same old, old story: if you can afford it, you can even survive bad law.
Rogernarc 