An election event horizon

We're now a week out from the election. A lot of votes have been cast already, almost everyone's minds are made up. In a real sense, I believe the results are locked in already. I think it's too late to change anyone's mind in a way that will affect the outcome of the election.

For months all attention has focused on this one day. There was the milestone of 100 days out. There were 60-day and 30-day milestones. And along the way, I started to notice something – I can't see past the election day. Time goes on after November 5, and it's highly likely that I will be alive after November 5. But I can't imagine anything past that date. I can't plan past that date.

Roughly speaking, there are two possible outcomes – either Kamala Harris wins, or the unthinkable, unimaginable happens. For my peace of mind, for my sanity, I won't try to imagine what will happen if Trump wins. I felt that before, but after Sunday's hate-fest the thought of what might happen is even more unthinkable. Trying to play scenarios does me no good. Based solely on the things he has promised, you have to try to wrap your mind around questions like "what would twelve million deportations look like?" Based on rhetoric like Stephen Miller's "America is for Americans and Americans only"...well, the possibilities could be far worse.

But what happens if Kamala wins? I can't go there for different reasons. One is fatalism, the idea that if I envision some positive outcome it's not going to happen. But while that's deep in my psyche, I've done a pretty good job of coming to terms with it. I'm not that powerful. The world doesn't revolve around me. History won't switch course just to punish me.

I honestly think that Kamala winning is the more reasonable scenario. And that was before Sunday, before the Madison Square Garden rally. But even if she wins, I have no sense of what happens next. Hopefully the fever will break among many Trump supporters. But there's still a huge number of Americans who have embraced far-right thinking. I don't know what to expect.

No matter what happens, Wednesday, November 6, 2024 is unfathomable to me.