Calling a Lid on This Election

It’s possible for Trump to win. It’s also unlikely.

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Dear Reader (Including the full panoply of NES, Genesis, and Atari households),

As Jeffrey Toobin said when asked if he could do a second Zoom call right away: I just don’t have it in me.

A bunch of people have written their big “Why I’m not voting for Trump” pieces. My former colleagues, Ramesh Ponnuru, Kevin Williamson, and Jay Nordlinger have all penned great ones. Peggy Noonan has a good one in the Wall Street Journal today.

I’ve been asked by a few folks if I’ll make a contribution to this oeuvre. And I just don’t have it in me. It seems to me that if you’ve been reading me for four years, you know where my head is at. Moreover, after four years of arguing against blurring the lines between analysis and partisanship, there’s just something about telling people how to vote, even obliquely, that rubs me the wrong way (“I can’t believe you didn’t go for the Toobin joke there.”—The Couch).

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  1. Kenna Ryan

    Mary and James, I appreciate your civil conversation and well reasoned points <3

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    Yorg

    I really wish writers would stop using the term 'national popular vote', especially accompanied by 'win' or 'lose'. There is 'no such thing' as the national popular vote nor is it 'a thing' to win or lose. Candidates are not playing the national popular vote game, like nobody in the NFL is playing the 'time of possession' game - there is only one final score and that's electoral votes.

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    1. Anonymous

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      1. Anonymous

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          Yorg

          Right, but nobody in sports would make any real claim on winning a game or a season championship based on an aggregation of statistics that don't actually determine the winning...When I say there is no such thing as a national popular vote, I'm saying it's not the game anyone is playing. You wouldn't say an NBA team "won the 3-point contest" and imply they sort of won the game...because in an NBA game there is no 3-point contest...that's not pedantic, it's clarity!

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  3. John H

    And we have another all-too-rare "The Couch" sighting!

    I was getting worried about him after such a long absence.

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  4. Lainie Cleghorn

    Hello to The Couch! I’ve missed you!

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    Realwoodies

    Nice to see no TDS in this. Good analysis.

    The problem with German words is that they are too long and too hard to pronounce.

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    Bel Aves

    Great article. Not original on my part but the moment of loss came on March 20 at a press conference. Long before the Biden lids and disastrous 1st debate, Trump's number, like many Governor's and mayors were inching up. In his case to 50, new ground. Pence looked competent, he had Birx and Adams but mostly he had Fauci. Then Trump took over the press conference and for nearly 45 minutes droned on about everything and began fighting with the press corps. Americans wanted two things from those conferences: information and reassurance. Instead, they got vitriol and bombast. These press conferences went on for another two weeks and momentum, and the final kernel of trust, was lost, along with his reelection.

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      Realwoodies

      The one thing that Trump did not bring to the job was presidential behavior. Like him or hate him, that fact is undeniable. Voters consider that a serious deficiency in a president. Your example highlights this.

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    2. Boatbody

      Good comment.

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    Connie

    WWII resistance radio code! OMG! I had to read that paragraph three times, because the first bite was so deliciously funny; I just had to go back for more! Jonah, you’re the top!

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    Kevin Johnson

    To all Jonah fans, and the fan adjacent, the interview linked here by Guy Denton is fabulous. Great Jonah overviews on what makes a conservative, nationalism, and more. No fan should miss it. Thanks, Jonah.

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  9. Herb Mitchell

    I'm not sure Trump literally wanted anyone to use disinfectant internally to kill covid. In America there are so many choices. How do you know which is the best of the best of the best. The one you spray in the shower and they claim the walls scrub themselves.

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  10. Kaybmorrow

    I am sick of the MEDIA but somehow can't get enough of it.

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