I have a good feeling about the election, too. Not so good a feeling about the aftermath leading to January 20.

The felon is spreading the seeds of violence. These will bloom in the months after the election. People need to exercise situational awareness in the post-election season.

I’m still really thinking the Repubs that don’t like tRump will come out and vote for Harris/Walz in pretty large numbers…..he just can’t win, and I think these Repubs will be the deciding factor. JMHO.

I think that the independent voters will provide a significant difference this year. I do not think that the felon has gained ground there. But obviously I welcome republican votes. And that includes those who left their party in recent years, due to disgust with the direction their party has taken.

I am feeling quite anxious. This helps.

to stomp the heck out of the maga movement. But the struggle will continue.

I am not entirely unsympathetic to those who talk of leaving the country if the worst happens, but I think those who can should stay and fight. Heck, even if the best happens, there are plenty of causes to keep fighting for.

I heard an indigenous woman on NPR today (sorry I didn’t catch the name) saying she wanted to be a good ancestor for the next generations of ancestors. It’s a valuable perspective.

The traditional Iroquois teach that one should think of seven generations in the future.

My older daughter's in-laws, from Denmark, tell me that if the felon wins, I would be welcome there. I know my daughter likes it there. But I am too old and far too stubborn to leave this country.

I am not nervous about the Harris/Walz ticket getting the most votes. I am nervous about the escalating threats to the poll workers and to the electoral process.

From the reports today on threats to FEMA workers by a militia, I think it is safe to say that a violent response to democracy is at hand. And that includes threats to poll workers and voters.

Sometimes reason and facts are on our side.

Reason and facts are definitely on our side. Our opposition lacks both.

And fingertips to the Great Weave my dear H2O. I truly hope you are correct.

If I am wrong, of course, I will blame my late father! (grin) On a serious note, I find myself thinking about what Dad would say about the felon. He was a life-long Democrat, as was his father who came here from Ireland. Dad had a strong dislike for Nixon, but was sad to see that a US president would sink so low as to engage in the series of crimes known as Watergate. Same with Reagan & Bush with Iran-Contra.

And he would be furious that, according to the USSC, these criminals could not have been prosecuted, because their actions were taken as president.

K & R.

Nine million.

There are a whole host of factors which did not exist the last time he lost. In a way, he’s right: Biden didn’t “win”, all those people voted to keep Trump out, because he and his presidency were horrifying.

But now we have 34 felony convictions, 1/6, indictments galore, horrible campaign statements, senility, disappeared wife, threats to use the military against American citizens, and lots lots more. He’s gonna lose big.

The republican "leaders" know he is a ball & chain on their party, but they are afraid to cross him. Yet because so many voters are motivated to vote against the felon, it hurts them down ticket. There is a price to pay for cowardice.

Thank you so much for that! I remember seeing that picture when I was young. Always loved it!

So impressive to a young j-school grad who also happened to be a Democrat.

Happier times…

THANKS!

I think we will not only win, but we will crush the felon. It's interesting to consider what the republican party will do after that. I suspect that shitheads like Matt Gaetz will try to be the next felon, but hopefully more intelligent ones will dare to end the madness. That might result in some primaries, but they need to do the right thing.

she lives in a working class area of Nashville, tn. known as East Nashville (North area)
We saw 2 trmp signs and 21 Harris/Walz signs....I'm not worried.
I believe the people know exactly what's going on.

I think that I first heard Nixon talking about "the silent majority." Of course, at that time, I was opposed to anything that crook said. But it has come to mind this election season. I think that the majority of citizens are tired of the felon's shit.

"Do more, worry less."

for this! It is so much appreciated!

I do not see any benefit in wasting energy. Being nervous uses up so much energy that can be used in a positive way. Being limited as I am, I view everything in the context of boxing. I remember circa 1972, being at the Golden Gloves in Troy, NY. Cus D'Amato was downstairs in the locker room. At the time, he was managing top middleweight contender Eugene "Cyclone" Hart, who asked him if he wanted to go upstairs to watch the fights? "No," Cus said, "I can see everything I need to here." That always stuck with me.

but I AM nervous... not over the election. I honestly feel we're gonna stomp the traitor into the sewage from which he rose. I AM nervous, however, about the election aftermath. SCOTUS, Congress... I'll use those anxious feelings, should the worst come to pass, to make my voice heard with the millions of others until what was plotted and proceeded is called back and undone. Million woman march? Imagine 5 million+ women, plus the men and children who love them!

I think we will win in November, and that will lead to the tougher struggle ahead. And exactly as you note, that includes with Congress and the USSC. I think it will include both houses of Congress, and a large segment of the federal courts. This, even with us in control of the White House, House of Representatives, and the Senate. Yet we will be in a better position to make progress.

My late friend Rubin Carter used to say that true democracy and social justice requires constant struggle. It's been fifty years since he first said that to me. I have seen no evidence since then that he was mistaken.

I loved the January 21, 2017 Women's March. If memory serves me correctly, about a half a million marched in DC in opposition to the felon. I can't remember the totals across the country. But it was powerful.

Will stretch across DC and every major city in the country. We'll be at statehouses and capitols. I am hopeful, tho that work being done by Marc Elias and hundreds like him will kill a lot of what T would try. Remember the arc of the universe. We've been working on a diverse, inclusive, fair world for decades... And we old hippies just won't give up! Remember Power to the People? It may be time for us oldsters go teach the Young ones some of methods we used that went beyond marches and sit ins. Some of us women were fairly aggressiveness towards securing our rights in 70's... Some us were completely audacious! Not that anyone would give a look nowadays at stripping off my clothes and slinging my bra at someone! Lol! I'm just a crazy old cat lady, ya know!

A lot of my friends are old hippies. Salt of the earth. I was a YIPPIE!, getting high with Abbie Hoffman, but also talking with Angela Davis and the Berrigan brothers. Those were the days!

I don't have as much energy as I did back then .... heck, not as much as I did a few years ago. I haven't spoken on college campuses since the 2016 election. But I enjoy the chances I get to talk with my (now adult) children's activist friends.

I'm a natural worrier, so this election has me wanting to jump out of my skin with anxiety. However, I do the opposite of doom scrolling. I look for posts like yours because they are like valerian tea for the soul. Thank you

I know that a large number of my family and friends are very nervous. Heck, I just got off the phone with my cousin. We talk every day, with him asking if I'm sure that VP Harris will win? I am. I think one of the things that unsettles him is watching the news. I tell him that if they reported that Harris is going to stomp the shit out of the felon, people wouldn't spend hours each day glued to the tube.

In the 1940s, a lady who lived in this house planted large flower gardens around the lawn, which was then about an acre. Among the plants still growing is a nice patch of valerian!

It's so easy to be unsettled and begin spiraling down. I think all reasonable, cognizant Americans, and many around the world, are suffering from PTSD due to Trump's ever-presence while sucking up all the oxygen.

Remember to breathe!

The felon and his cult have done significant and long-term damage to our country. There is no level of low they will not take, and people suffer from being exposed to their actions. The media holds much responsibility for covering so many of his speeches.

I am fortunate in that, although I'm surrounded by maga cult neighbors in rural, upstate New York, I can spend time in nature, without any contact from other people. And in what I consider a good sign, only two places within a mile in any direction have republican campaign signs out. So the few times per month I leave my property, I find that encouraging.

inside the Blue Line, now Elise Stephanik's seat. He lost by a very slight margin.

I live in Maine now, in the blue part of the state. I see many fewer signs for the felon. One home that used to have numerous signs on the chain link fence along the road has one limp, backward-hanging sign. Maybe that's a good omen for us.

It must have been exciting to have your Dad running for Congress!

Stephanik is, in so many ways, among the very worst people in Congress. She knows better. She's not stupid. And she wasn't a maga cultist in the felon'[s first couple years in office. But her ambition to gain power has resulted in her kissing the felon's ass.

and looked forward to serving himself. He would have been a wonderful representative to the House for the North Country He was a lover and promoter of the Adirondacks, having worked to get the Northway approved.

I often wonder how he would react to today's politics. Stephanik would appall him. When I saw her campaign office in Saranac Lake when the family gathered in August, I felt a not-normal-for-me extreme hatred towards her.

We deal with those issues between 2025 and 2028. They are definitely very important, but we will be in a position to deal with them.

You are a voice I always respect here at DU.

Thank you for your measured words.

I surely do appreciate that!

winning by that much. You're pretty close.

The other thing we didn't have in 2016, or in 2020, was that all of the battleground states have since flipped to Democratic state leadership with the exception of Nevada and Georgia. But in Georgia, we won three senate elections in two years. In Pennsylvania, in 2022, the Democrats won a landslide.

I live in blue state Illinois, in one of its bluest counties, Cook. There's not a lot to do around here, so I join a group of folks who drive the thirty miles or so to Wisconsin, to help canvass in the counties south of Milwaukee. I did that four years ago and it was a good experience. So far this time around, the number of volunteers is considerably larger, we are hearing from different counties that Democrats are literally knocking on every door, and the "polls" we are seeing, from these events, indicates Democratic voter turnout will be significantly higher than it was in 2020.
"
And it's anecdotal, for sure, but a lot of the Republicans I know who voted Trump in 2020 are planning on staying home this time around, and a few of them are considering Harris. Most of those are Evangelical Christians, so maybe there's a message in that.

I also know republicans who voted for the felon, but are tired of him. Some were planning to vote for RFK Jr. If they do vote, I doubt it will be for the felon.

I have been encouraged by some things I've seen coming from evangelic christians, ranging from the environment, climate change, and the dangers the felon poses to our country. That's a positive sign.

because my sister, who you may remember, was getting worried about the polls this afternoon. Rather than go into a long explanation that would have paled in comparison to yours above I got to take the lazy way out and I just sent her your essay.

Whew! I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried. After what we went through as a country we are all probably nervous.

When I get nervous I donate. Might not be loads of money but it makes me feel better.

of course I remember your sister! I'm still waiting for her to visit me. Please tell her to dump anyone she is currently seeing -- even if married -- as she has the opportunity to listen to my nonsense every day. And that I expect both of you to be here to celebrate Harris's victory.

When talking with my nervous cousin tonight, he said that he deals with it by donating to Democrats around the country. I like that he asks me which candidates he should donate to.

Just did so this morning.

I have NEVER donated this kind of money to political campaigns. But this year it is a lot (for me).

Putting my money where my mouth is.

I try not to pay attention to the polls, especially not since they were so off in 2016. Sticking to that isn't always easy, though.

After obsessing about my Illinois mail-in ballot, it arrived last Friday and is already in the mail. Now I feel a great sense of relief, though not when I'm panicking.

The polls in 2016 were terrible, I'll never forget that.

I mailed in my ballot a week or so ago. I have never been happier than having the opportunity to vote for Harris/Walz. It felt so good!

And urge others to vote, too.

Your posts always have a way of making me feel better and smarter.

Thank you...

I'd like to think that my contributions to DU have some value. So I appreciate your kind words!

A hero dies but once.

I’m feeling very cowardly these days.

his very best -- or worst -- to inject fear and anxiety into the social atmosphere. This brings about hatred and a willingness to be at least okay with political violence in his cult. At the same time, it can bring about the third of the fight, flight, or freeze responses of sane people. And I do not think it is possible for Good People not to have those responses. Because I am not "normal" in any sense of that word, I am limited to "fight." And I mean that seriously.