Yogi Berra, the famous New York Yankee catcher, was supposed to have said, “Déjà vu all over again.” That’s exactly how this election feels to me. I’m certain I have been to this dance before.
After billions of dollars have been spent trying to convince us how to vote and after countless polls and pundits and commentaries, the results in the 2020 election are eerily similar to what happened four years ago.
Back in 2016 roughly 129 million Americans voted in the presidential election, and this year approximately 142 million Americans voted—not a dramatic increase especially when tens of millions of voters had the opportunity to cast their ballots through the mail. The sad fact is that more than one third of eligible voters still did not participate in our democracy.
We came into this election with 47 Democratic senators, and it looks like the Democrats will possibly pick up one seat. The House remains in the Democratic column with a loss of fewer than ten seats.
Out of 50 states, all but four or five states voted the way they did four years ago, and less than 1 percent changed the outcome in these states. We continue to be a deeply divided people.
And, of course, we are back in court to determine how votes should be counted. Once again the Supreme Court is being asked to determine who will be our next president.
If there is one thing we can all learn from this ordeal, it is that pollsters should join the rank of the unemployed. Their calculations were even more inaccurate than during the last presidential election.
Let us be grateful we don’t have to undergo another presidential election for four more years, although I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if future candidates start showing up in Iowa next year.