Millions of voters casting early ballots
What happened
With two weeks to go until Election Day, voters shattered records for early balloting this week, as passions stirred by Donald Trump’s divisive presidency sent Americans streaming to the polls. Some 42 million votes had already been cast by Tuesday, according to the U.S. Election Project— nearly a third the total number of votes cast in 2016. In states that offered a party breakdown of the early votes, registered Democrats outnumbered Republicans by 2 to 1. Voters in some states endured long lines; in Georgia, some waited as long as 11 hours on opening day. “I really wanted to make sure that my voice was heard,” said Everlean Rutherford, who stood in line for 10 hours in Marietta, Ga. “I want to see a change in this country.” Biden leads Trump by roughly 10 points in aggregate national polls, with varying leads in every swing state, and close margins in GOP strongholds such as Georgia and Texas. Trump’s campaign is low on cash after burning through $1 billion, with just $63 million in its coffers at the start of the month compared with Biden’s $177 million. Trump is being outspent on TV advertising by 2 to 1.
Trump embarked on a flurry of campaign rallies, where he aired his grievances against the media and attacked his rivals. Appearing before largely maskless crowds in former red states now turned purple such as Georgia and Arizona, Trump called Biden a “criminal,” encouraged a “Lock her up” chant aimed at Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, and disparaged the government’s top infectious-disease expert, Anthony Fauci, as “a disaster.” He lashed out at a Supreme Court decision to let stand a Pennsylvania court ruling that denied a GOP bid to cut off counting of mail-in votes that arrive after Election Day—a major victory for Biden. “It’s crazy,” Trump said.
As Trump barnstormed, Biden’s campaign manager, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, issued a memo to donors warning of complacency, saying the race remains “neck and neck” in key battleground states and is “a lot closer” than pundits suggest. Wisconsin party chair Ben Wikler said that Democrats still suffering from trauma over Hillary Clinton’s shocking defeat in 2016 have “a deep-rooted sense that anything could go wrong at every moment.”
What the editorials said
“End our national crisis,” said The New York Times. “The worst president in modern history,” Trump has damaged our standing around the globe, “abused the power of his office,” and engaged in “rampant corruption” and “incompetent statecraft.” He’s a “racist demagogue” who’s made America “more polarized, more paranoid, and meaner.” On Nov. 3,
What next?
Conservatives “have our work cut out for us,” said National Review. For the first time in a decade, “Americans could find themselves living under all-Democratic rule.” On issues from health care to immigration, the Democratic Party has taken a “leftward lurch” that Biden—a politician of weak convictions—won’t resist. If Election Day brings disaster, we can thank Trump. While he’s done much to further conservative goals, his managerial incompetence on the coronavirus pandemic and his character defects “now threaten to drag conservatism down to a consequential and avoidable defeat.”
What the columnists said
This isn’t 2016, said Philip Bump in The Washington Post. In that race’s final days, undecideds shifted decisively toward Trump. But polls show there are few undecideds in this race. Biden has far better favorability ratings than the divisive Clinton, and his lead “has been much more stable.” Trump “can’t catch Biden without stealing support from Biden,” which he hasn’t been able to do.
Don’t count Trump out, said David Siders in Politico.com. Early Democratic gains could be offset by a Republican “wave” of inperson voting on Election Day. Republicans have an edge in newvoter registration. Only a few points separate the two candidates in several swing states, and questions linger about the accuracy of polls and the number of “shy Trump voters” who might not talk to pollsters. Many mail-in ballots may be disqualified on technicalities. “Anxiety-ridden” Democrats are right to worry.
Swing-state polls predicting a Clinton victory were wrong in 2016, but pollsters say “2020 will be different,” said Laurel White in WPR.org. Their review of their own methodology has led them to conclude that the people most likely to respond to polls tend to be college-educated Democrats. So pollsters have “course-corrected” their sampling this year. It’s also important to note that “nationwide polls were largely correct” in 2016. Clinton came into Election Day with a 3 percent edge in the average of national polls; she actually won the popular vote by 2.1 percent. There is one pollster who predicts a Trump win on Nov. 3, said Kyle Smith in NationalReview.com. Robert Cahaly, who correctly called Trump’s 2016 wins in Michigan and Pennsylvania, thinks that Trump haters are eager to give pollsters an earful, while his fans “don’t want to be bothered,” skewing the numbers. Cahaly is going “way, way out on a limb,” but if he proves right, he’ll be “the new king of pollsters.” voters must repudiate Trump and all that he stands for. It’s “the first step in repairing the damage he has done.”
Trump isn’t acting like he even wants to win, said Matt Lewis in TheDailyBeast.com. Instead of drawing in wavering voters, he’s doubled down on unhinged tweets and “offensive rhetoric” while failing to negotiate a pandemic relief bill that would have aided “desperate Americans.” He couldn’t be hurting himself more if he tried.
“We’re overthinking this campaign,” said Tim Alberta in Politico.com. The bottom line is this: Americans are sick of Trump’s act. I’ve heard it from voters “all across America”; even “MAGA loyalists” call his erratic behavior “exhausting.” Voters might have chosen Trump in 2016 as the candidate they’d rather have a beer with, but now he’s the “drunk at the bar” who “won’t shut up.” After four years, Americans seem ready to call for the tab.
■■ As Hurricane Delta approached Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula earlier this month, Ricardo Pimentel worried about the animals at his shelter. On 10 acres of sanctuary land, he wasn’t sure the 500 critters would be safe from high winds, heavy rain, flash flooding, and falling branches. So, Pimentel brought them inside his home. A photo of his house with about 300 dogs inside went viral; he also harbored dozens of cats, chicks, bunnies, and a hedgehog in his children’s rooms, and his patio held a flock of sheep. The house smelled terrible, but “it can be cleaned,” Pimentel says. “What’s beautiful is to see them happy, healthy, and safe.”
■■ Fidel Ybarra was on work release from his Utah prison, picking up trash along a marathon route near the 4-mile mark, when he noticed Carrie Kelley limping. The middleaged marathoner had various injuries that “caught up to her,” Kelley said, leaving her struggling to run. “I think maybe I saw a little bit of myself [in her],” said Ybarra, “and I felt like I could not let her finish the marathon alone.” Despite having done no marathon training himself, Ybarra ran alongside her, talking and encouraging her through the remaining 22 miles. The pair crossed the finish line together, holding hands.