Americans are immersed in one of our sacred rites of passage, the political quadrennial, familiarly known as the race for the presidency. By the time I post again, Americans in Washington DC, and all the states, except Hawaii, will have completed voting. Polls will have closed, election staffs in dozens of states will have begun counting ballots, and several states’ results will have been tallied and revealed. By the account of most polls and of the experts who interpret them, the race is currently considered too close to call.
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times normally endorse a candidate for president. This year, interestingly, the two journalistic giants opted, within days of one another, not to make a presidential endorsement.
Jeff Bezos, WaPo owner, stated, of his rationale, that he pulled the editorial (which endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris) because newspaper endorsements do not influence the outcome of elections; they just create the appearance of putting one’s thumb on the scale. He concluded, it was the right thing to do. In fact, he said the paper would discontinue the practice, which it has carried out in every Presidential Election since 1976. Moreover, it should be noted, they even endorsed several candidates in the 2024 election cycle. And there’s more. Coincidentally…or not, on the same day, Bezos prevented his editorial board from publishing WaPo’s endorsement, executives from his aerospace company met with Donald Trump. Both Blue Origin, and Amazon, compete for federal contracts. It’s not inconceivable, there may have been, implied or explicit, some motivation or incentive to drop the endorsement…especially one that would not be for Mr. Trump. For whatever it’s worth, Bezos maintained there was no connection between the meeting, which he disavowed knowing about, and the endorsement cancellation.
Meanwhile, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, LAT owner, said his decision would be less divisive in a tumultuous election year. While his daughter asserted the Gaza War influenced the decision not to endorse (also Vice President Kamala Harris), Dr. Soon-Shiong said Gaza did not play a role, and added, his daughter has no role at the times, and she does not participate in any decision or discussion with the editorial board. Coincidentally, Soon-Shiong, like Elon Musk, one of Trump’s biggest backers, is from South Africa. Perhaps, more importantly, he also has history with Trump. The two reportedly discussed the future of medicine after Trump’s 2016 win. None of that means there was anything nefarious about the nixing of the endorsement. But…
Several members of both papers’ editorial board resigned after the owners’ decision to quash the endorsement editorials.
WaPo and LAT notwithstanding, there will probably never be a dearth of presidential endorsements. Over the past two months, I have been intentional in writing about something other than presidential politics. There are a host of reasons, but primarily, I zigged while there was a whole lot of zagging. During this time of year, the topic is almost inescapable. As a result, I could write about most anything, and no one would feel as though they were shortchanged, since the convo was pervasive.
America, it is said, is evenly divided between those who prefer Harris, those who prefer Trump, and those who prefer none of the above. And yes, Robert Kennedy, Jill Stein, and Cornel West are also running, but let’s face it, while one or all of them collectively, could play the role of spoiler, when the dust settles (which may take a while), either Harris or Trump will be the next Commander-in-Chief.
Donald Trump is a cult of personality; 1 of 1. He could say anything, or nothing (well, that last part is probably not possible for him), and he’d get 47% or more of the vote. He has engendered a loyal following. He once said he could shoot someone on 5th Ave., and nor lose any votes. While that is a theory, yet to be tested, I say, let’s leave it there. Just understand, his former Vic President is unavailable, his longest serving Chief-of-Staff, absent, his Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, otherwise engaged. NBC reached out to 44 people who served in Trump’s Cabinet. Only 4 said publicly, they would support his re-election bid. One said he met the definition of a Fascist.
Trump and his loyalists started early trying to define Vice President Harris, as soon as President Biden stepped aside and endorsed her. Among their favorites, based upon frequency of use were stupid, dumb, low IQ, mentally impaired, and DEI hire. All of that seems downright ludicrous, when viewed through the lens of her having destroyed him in their only debate. Add to that her list of elective offices, which include, San Francisco District Attorney, Attorney General of California, United States Senator, and Vice President of the United States, her qualifications compared to his, or anyone else’s are in a word, stellar. With that, I will just cut to the chase and announce that I am proud to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the Office of President of the United States. “Six Days: Harris Walz!”
I’m done; holla back!
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