Second Thoughts

Joe Biden is currently the most unpopular President in modern American history. He makes the Carter Administration look positively popular. If I were a Democrat and saw the President’s polling and saw him statistically tied in a race against a man most Americans loathe and who Democrats believe is an existential threat to democracy itself, I might want to consider pushing the man aside (not down stairs) and letting him retire gracefully a one term President.

Concurrently, Republicans, your front runner is statistically tied to the most unpopular President in modern American history. The GOP leads the Democrats on border security, immigration, national security, crime, spending, fighting inflation, and the economy. The President is less popular than most venereal diseases. And your front runner is only tied with him — in large part because Democrats themselves are tired of their front runner but will rush back to him if Trump is the nominee. And, remarkably, the further you get from Trump as a GOP nominee, the better the Republican candidate does against Biden.

Both parties should be rethinking their front runners.

The most unpopular President in modern history is tied with the most unpopular candidate for President in American history. It’s not the unstoppable force meets the immovable object. It’s the brain eating amoeba versus the brain swelling virus — where Americans are forced to pick which cruel death they prefer — a choose your own adventure where at the end you always wind up in hell.

We head into Thanksgiving week still a very blessed nation. The further away from politics one is, the happier that person and their family is and the more mindful they are of their blessings. The bases of both parties, particularly on the internet, are particularly unhappy and malcontented. The core of the base of both parties, loudly and proudly standing by their octogenarian, are defensive, angry, and unwilling to give way to reason convinced only their guy can win.

The rest of America, given the choice between the two, probably prefers a bullet. The rest of America, largely unplugging from and exhausted by American politics, are going to be okay. The nation itself will be okay. The worried and fretful partisans online convinced the end is nigh if the country gets the next election wrong — they’ll be angry and miserable by choice.

The choice is yours in the primaries. The choice is yours to be angry, miserable, happy, or contented. If an election alters your mood permanently, you’ve made politics your idol.

We live in the greatest country. The economy, for working Americans, is not as good as it could be. Remarkably, it is still far stronger than any other economy on the planet. Around the world, people are still willing to die to try to come to this country because they, unlike a lot of people who are native born, still believe in this country’s ideals and potentials.

The parties may have lost their minds and wish to punish all Americans by subjecting them to the vanities of two old narcissists, but the people and the nation — well, I’m still thankful for them and the mess and soap opera of the process.

Today, you can stand up and denounce the President or his would be rival and former President. And you’ll go to bed tonight and sleep just fine. That’s increasingly rare in the world. Our freedoms make us unique.

Lastly, some of you will read that last paragraph and immediately rush to doomsday scenarios of fleeting freedoms and coming collapse. You have made that choice to embrace pessimism, fear, anger, and misery. You’re going to be a real joy at Thanksgiving.

The rest of you, be cheerful. Come what may, we’re still Americans and that means something to a whole lot of people willing to die just to get here and be one of us with a big ass bird in an oven, watching football, and laughing at the people swept away in existential terror of what-if scenarios as the sweet potatoes come out of the oven.

We are all very blessed. Happy Thanksgiving. I’m going to be on radio today and then take the rest of the week off to cook, eat, and spend time with friends and family.