Baffled!

To say I'm baffled is an understatement.  Gobsmacked sounds more accurate.

In my last post I predicted a Democratic landslide that would give them both the White House and Senate.  Wrong!  As I write this we know for sure that the Dems will not control the Senate, that they will lose seats in the House, and while it looks good for Biden, we're not even sure that he will win.

My question to myself:  What universe are you living in, Dan?  I'm certainly out of touch with the one I inhabit.  The bubble in which I live has done a good job of protecting me from Covid-19.  Apparently it has also done a good job of removing me from the reality that is the world hundreds of millions of Americans inhabit.

Four million more people voted for Trump this time than four years ago.  Four million more!  In the face of his pandemic failure, a busted economy, racial unrest, irresponsible and destructive rhetoric that has divided Americans and dismayed the rest of the world, in the face of all this and more, he is more popular than he was four years ago.  How can this be?

In my world it can't be.  So I am way out of touch with the world outside my bubble.  Is what is out there a one-off phenomenon that will disappear in a little while?  And things will return to normal?  I don't think so.  I think what baffles me is a new normal.  It is more likely to be what the future looks like, whether I like it or not.

I'd like to be as wrong on this conclusion as I was in predicting the election.  For now, let's just say it is possible.  Stay tuned . . .