In every life we have some troubleBut when you worry you make it double* * *'Cause when you worry your face will frownAnd that will bring everybody down*
But like many Democrats
whose expectations were dashed four years ago, I worried. Could the pollsters and pundits be wrong
again? Was it possible that tons of
“shy” Trump voters would come forward in 2020 to re-elect Trump and elect
Republicans to Congress?
I worried, but I tried to
convince myself that it was not possible.
Trump won in 2016 by a razor thin margin. Surely, after four years of lies and
misinformation, of insults and bullying, of incompetence in managing the
pandemic, those voters who simply did not like Hillary Clinton and did not know
Trump four years ago would overwhelmingly vote to turn him out of office.
Then the 2020 election
happened. On election night as the
networks began reporting the votes, I felt as if someone had ripped my heart
from my chest and stomped on it. Florida
looked promising, but then it slipped away.
Ohio did the same. Texas
followed. As the evening wore on, Trump
won everywhere he had won in 2016 and Biden’s states were the same as those
that Hillary had won. States that I
thought Biden would easily flip were reported as too close to call. In my home state, Pennsylvania, Trump had a
huge lead with mail-in ballots not yet counted.
It began to look like a repeat of the heartbreaking election of
2016. There was no blue wave as
Republicans won Senate and House seats that Democrats expected to win. Needless to say, I did not get much sleep as
my worries kept me awake.
But then, over the next
several days, states began to be called for Joe Biden – Wisconsin and Michigan
were bricks in a “blue wall” being rebuilt.
Biden’s electoral count hit 253, and several states were trending in a
positive direction. Then maddeningly, it
seemed to get stuck there. Each morning
I would wake up with hope that Biden would be projected to win another state –
Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada, Georgia – please call one of them, I prayed.
Finally, around 11:30 on
Saturday morning, the major networks projected that Joe Biden would win
Pennsylvania, giving him 273 electoral votes and the victory. Nevada followed with another six electoral
votes boosting his total to 279, with the possibility of more as votes
continued to be counted in Arizona and Georgia.
People were dancing in the streets of Philadelphia and other cities in
the United States and around the world.
I felt jubilant as well. For a few minutes – well, perhaps for a few
hours. Then I began to worry. Trump was filing lawsuits everywhere. Sure, everyone seemed to say they had no
merit, but I feared some crazy Trump appointed judge might decide to take
action to reverse the voters’ decision. Then
Trump’s Republican enablers in Congress offered support to his unsubstantiated
notion that there was widespread fraud, and the election results could be
overturned.
But then slowly, so
slowly, some Republicans began to raise their voices to support nation over
party – Murkowski, Romney, Sasse, Collins, and even Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania. Joe Biden held a press conference and seemed
certain that the results would be accepted, and he would be inaugurated on
January 20, 2021. Every example of
alleged fraud put forward by Trump’s people shriveled to nothing in the harsh
daylight of increased scrutiny.
plenty to be worried about – not whether Joe Biden will take office in January but whether Trump’s actions will result in unnecessary violence if his supporters decide to take out their frustrations on fellow citizens that support the winning candidate.
But as Bobby McFerrin
sings, “In every life we have some trouble, but when you worry you make it
double.” So, I’ll try really hard to listen
to his advice. Don’t Worry, Be Happy!
*“Don’t Worry, Be Happy,”
by Bobby McFerrin
