Up to Date with Ethan Callender Entry 9: How to Stumble Your Way To The Presidency

 Up to Date with Ethan Callender Entry 9: How to Stumble Your Way To The Presidency

I’m not gonna lie, they had us on the first night. I was watching CNN’s election coverage with a few of my friends, and it got depressing. I remember all of the battleground states suddenly turning red, and all our hearts sank. It really looked like Trump would win another term, despite the “red mirage” that did, in fact, appear that night. In the following days, mail-in votes were being counted in the battleground states, but in Florida and Ohio, Trump had already been projected to win. However, in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan, there was hope for Biden, and now, he has completed his comeback. Joe Biden will likely be the 46th President of the United States.

I’m sure Biden wasn’t many progressives’ first choice, as even I thought he looked washed-up before the primaries. Of course, I was unaware at the time of his struggle with stuttering, which would explain why he took a while to get going. However, by the time of the primaries, it looked like Biden was sputtering out, as Bernie Sanders was still running for President then and was as sharp and angry as ever. That changed with the South Carolina primary, and with that victory, America’s political analysts and junkies had a definite ‘oh s***’ moment. Biden, in his third primary campaign, was finally on top.

Then, he carried that burst of momentum all the way until the party convention, becoming the Democratic nominee. He would aim to take down Trump, and he did so in an ingenious way. You see, back in 2016, Trump’s character had won him his support in the battleground states that gave him the Presidency. By 2020, however, Trump’s character had become his Achilles heel to an outright dangerous degree. Sure, the economy was decent pre-COVID, and the Middle East was closer to peace. On the other hand, the pre-COVID world was gone, and the economy was now on life support. Also, having an uncouth, braggadocious President who was incapable of calming a frightened people down didn’t help. Biden then proceeded to make these weaknesses a central focus of his argument, framing Trump as completely unfit for office and incredibly out of touch. That was a winning strategy, and resulted in the most deserved -- and ironic -- Presidential firing since Herbert Hoover’s back during the Great Depression.

Again, I must remind everyone that the results are not official, and won’t be for quite a while. However, barring any seismic changes, Biden will probably win. His comeback from the brink is complete, and I for one welcome him as our likely 46th President come January 20, 2021. As for Trump, the only person he has to say “you’re fired” to now is himself in the mirror when he gets out of the White House showers.

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