One absolutely wonderful thing that happened in 2020 was the U.S. Presidential Election. Elections bookended the pandemic for me. In March 2020, I volunteered to be an inside poll observer for the Wake County Democratic Party. This gave me insight into how elections are carried out. Being one of those rare people who have never missed an election, I was already well-familiar with how the process worked from the public point of view but learning more about the various checks put in place was quite educational.
COVID was a thing in the March primary but not taken as seriously. Spending so long in a school classroom turned polling place, packed with dozens of strangers seems like suicide to me now. The general election was far more strict, with volunteers carefully limiting the number of people indoors.
I was also disappointed to be restricted in my movement during the general election. Chief judges would corral the observers into one area rather than letting us do our jobs. After some cajoling I managed to get this largely fixed. I’m sure part of the issue was the threat of violence that was on everyone’s mind due to heightened tensions.
Without exception, though, the interactions I had with the Republican poll observers I spent time with were positive. We had good chats about the state of the community and the country. In the past I would’ve posed for pictures with them but the pandemic made that unworkable.
Joe Biden criss-crossed the country, drumming up votes. One weekend afternoon in the summer of 2020, at the depths of his support at the time, Biden spoke at St. Augustine University. We found about it too late to see the whole speech but Travis insisted in going over there, anyway. He walked over and entered the gym which was mostly empty as everyone had left. Biden was there and Travis simply walked up to him and got a selfie. That means that during the campaign, Travis had his photo with Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and Joe Biden (Hallie also got snaps with Warren and Sanders).
I recall Hillary Clinton rallying at St. Aug in 2016 and I couldn’t be bothered to walk two blocks to see her. I should be more welcoming when politicians show up on my doorstep, I suppose!
Trump crimed all he could to keep Biden from winning the election but Trump still lost in a landslide. His campaign team filed 62 lawsuits challenging the results and has so far lost 61 of them. The Rudy Guiliani press conference from Philadelphia’s Four Seasons Total Landscaping will go down in history as a highlight of Trump stupidity.
When news organizations finally, finally called the election in Biden’s favor on Nov 7th I was working in the yard. Suddenly I was startled by fireworks in the neighborhood. Spontaneous celebrations broke out among neighbors – something I had never, ever seen before in my life. I put down my tools and wandered down the street to drink champagne and holler in the street with my neighbors as we cheered democracy’s victory.
Results have now been certified in all the states, the election has been called the most secure in America’s history, and it’s all but over. Biden takes office in 15 days, whether Trump likes it or not. Still, several U.S. Senators intend to object to the certification of the electoral votes. They are seditious bastards in my opinion.
I look forward to mind-numbing normalness from a Biden administration. I look forward to being enraged at Biden over totally minor quibbles. I am happy, though, that a criminal family will no longer be in the White House.
And I hope justice catches up with Donald Trump, his family, and his criminal friends.