The Long Way Home 9.20.24

My loyal readers, family, and most of my friends know that I am not undecided about how I will cast my vote for president this year. 

My decision, already made, is about more than party, believe it or not. 

My grandfather, who died before I reached puberty, passed on a valuable message that I’ve carried for more than six decades. He’d say, “No matter what, leave things a little better than when you found them.” That’s why the “leave no trace” ethic of the BWCAW and golf courses appeals to me. 

I haven’t been in the BWCAW since the early 1970s, but I have spent a fair number of hours on golf courses. Golfers know that a well-hit ball leaves a divot and a ball landing on the green leaves a mark. The ethic is to repair your divot/mark and at least one other. Leave the course better than you found it. 

During and after the most recent presidential “debate,” the media brought together panels of undecided voters for before-and-after consultations. Most of these folks' comments indicate that despite what they saw, they were still undecided. 

How does that happen?

According to the Center for Opinion Research, just three percent of people reported undecided in an August Franklin & Marshall College poll. About 12% said they had a preference but could be persuaded to change their mind. That left 85%, like me, sure about which candidate they would vote for. Historically, this survey showed that about 15% of voters were undecided in August of a presidential election year, so this cycle is unique. 

I can understand being undecided about legislative candidates or judicial candidates. Who really knows those people? 

However, the major party candidates for president, Trump and Harris, are now known by everyone. They’re all over the media, socials and serious. 

Trump may be the most well-known presidential candidate of modern times. Since the 1970s, the shameless self-promoter has been on the front page of business magazines and society pages, multiple talk shows,  and finally, on a scripted television reality show, where, for more than a decade, he played a successful tycoon looking to find a suitable apprentice for his empire. 

He was president for four years until losing the election in 2020. You must have lived under a rock for 40 years if you haven’t seen enough to decide if he was your choice this fall. 

One could be forgiven for not knowing enough about Harris. After all, she’s toiled in public life for more than 20 years. Elected as the District Attorney for San Francisco in 2003, she went on to two terms as the Attorney General of the State of California, elected in 2010 and 2014. In 2017, she was elected as the junior senator from California and became the Vice President in 2021.

She might be more well-known if she’d spent 14 years producing and starring in a reality network television show.

The presidency is America's most powerful political position, if not the world’s. For more than 200 years, only 46 people have held this vaunted position. And most who won elections, at least in my feeble memory, campaigned on a positive, upbeat message, inspiring hope for progress.

In 1960, Richard Nixon was a rabid anti-communist who wore his anger on his sleeve. John Kennedy, his rival for the job, talked of a new frontier and a new generation. Granted, it was a close election, but the positive Kennedy message won, inspiring a new era of hope and progress.

In 1964, Lyndon Johnson brought his vision of the Great Society to the campaign, a confident and hopeful message that defeated Barry Goldwater's angry, doomsday campaign.

Carter brought the same energy in 1976  when he beat Nixon’s successor, Gerald Ford,  in 1976.

In 1980, Reagan defeated the incumbent Jimmy Carter with his optimistic vision of America as “A Shining City on the Hill.” Most winning presidential candidates have an upbeat and forward-looking vision, even Trump, with his “Make America Great Again” message in 2016. 

This country has been through a lot for as long as I can remember. With a few exceptions, like Reagan, Clinton, Bush, and Obama, voters' positive feelings never last long enough for a second term.  

And that’s okay.  

I’m a realistic optimist. Every time, give me the energy, joy, and vision of a future-focused presidential candidate to keep us moving forward. 

We, as a nation, are always moving forward, making and correcting mistakes as we go, which gives me confidence in our continuous progress.

So, if you or someone you know is undecided or agreeable to change your selection, consider the cheerful, upbeat, and even joyful campaign about the future.