People who have been reading my stuff for a while know that I have a pretty calm, healthy approach to politics. I'm passionate when I am writing or talking about our drunken clown circus news cycles but when I check out, I check way out.
Here in the Year of our Lord 2024, I find myself letting the weirdness linger and prey upon my mood more than usual.
In my book "Straight Outta Feelings" I chronicle my journey to political Zen during the volatile 2016 election year. I have been working on an update to it for over three years but haven't finished because I keep changing directions with it.
Put mildly, the Biden years have proven to be a bit of a challenge.
I should make it clear that my preference for not walking around in a perpetual fit of pique about politics doesn't mean I don't care. This job lets me vent and move on to the next thing, which is very helpful. Were it not for this outlet, the last three years might have seen me filling up a swimming pool with Prilosec on a daily basis.
It has only been around a week and a half since the end of the Republican National Convention, but so much has happened since then that it feels like it wrapped up months ago. Many of us who have been around since the Reagan years felt that it was the best RNC since 1984.
That emotional high didn't linger very long for me, however. When Joe Biden dropped out of the race a few days later and threw Kamala Harris's hat into the ring, the kind of disruption that the Democrats are good at taking advantage of was introduced into the race. It was a monkey wrench I wasn't in the mood to ponder.
Yet ponder I have, and I suddenly have a nagging feeling about November. I'm actually grateful for it, because it's good to keep one's exuberance in check in these whacko political times.
I had a nagging feeling in 2022 as well, but I let it get away from me and allowed myself to get caught up in the confident optimism about the Red Wave that so many of my conservative friends and colleagues were experiencing. Up until maybe late September of that year, I had been the party pooper who kept warning everyone about having too much fun.
When I finally hopped on the party bus, it was a fun ride for a few weeks, but we know how that turned out.
I won't be making the same mistake this year.
Donald Trump is the right candidate at the right time for the Republicans this year, of that I am confident. In reality, he should crush Kamala Harris and whichever White guy the Democrats pick to hold her hand in this election. Things have a way of tacking hard to the surreal in American politics these last several years, though. I worry about what the Democrats may be concocting while they hide behind their fake enthusiasm for their new vote-less nominee.
Related: Your Friendly Reminder That the Democrats Are Brilliant at Using Chaos to Their Advantage
Because you know they're up to something.
So… a little dread is in order. Even if it's just occasional dread, followed by a frosty adult beverage. It helps me stay even more vigilant and focused. And, should everything go down the toilet in November, I won't be crashing down from any great heights. It's the prudent route to take in an election that almost certainly has more curveballs to throw at us.
I'll still be detached most of the time; an occasional dollop of dread should do. If dread can be dolloped, that is. I won't be plumbing the depths of despair, mind you, I still have faith in Trump and Vance. It's best that my deep distrust of the Democrats have a safe space to hang out until Nov. 5, however.
Click the button below to get the Morning Briefing emailed to you every weekday. Have your coffee with me, people. It's free and it supports conservative media!
