Surprise. There’s a U.S. presidential election next week.
Golly, that would explain all the “please vote for me” flyers in the mailbox each day. And all the “my opponent is a lying scum” ads on television. Every channel, every minute, every day. So what happens after election day (or month)?
To state the obvious, roughly half the populace will be happy and the other half will be unhappy. Or, let’s hope that other half (whichever it is) is “satisfied” with just being unhappy. In either event, both sides have to be happy that all the ads will be gone. But, what if the election isn’t totally finished? I’m sure everyone knows that’s a distinct possibility. And a lot of lawyers are banking on it.
We’ve seen this show before. Remember the 2000 fiasco in Florida’s election count? Candidates Bush and Gore were pretty even in ballot count with each challenging the results. Each ballot was scrutinized and every “hanging chad” was challenged. Bush won and there were certainly some hard feelings but that was that. Bush became president, Gore became climate “guru” and got rich. A win-win? No violence, no nasty discord and life went on.
Fast forward a few years. 2008 Sen. McCain lost to Sen. Obama and all was calm. Then, 2016 came along. Hillary Clinton lost to Trump. All hell broke loose. Election interference claims, spying claims, disinformation ran amuck and lots of “bad blood” flowed among voters. Recently, the 2020 election actually got worse. Trump lost to Biden and talk of an election “steal” and voter irregularity was rampant. Impeachments (multiple) and lawsuits followed. Insults were like candy. Tasty news but cavities were formed. Oh boy.
And here we are. A week to go. Financial markets on edge. Betting on results are available with big money now involved. No one knows for certain what will eventually happen. Will either losing side accept the results quietly and politely? (now there’s a sure ‘no’ bet) Will there be violence? Will results be challenged? A certain ‘yes’ bet. Will we even know the results next week? No wonder financial markets are on edge.
However, one thing is certain now that you know there is an election. Your vote counts.
