i may not have the insight that you'd have hoped for. but, i'm going to wait until tomorrow before i post a final analysis. i wouldn't expect much, though.
right now, i want to remind you of what i'm thinking about the situation.
i am a leftist, and donald trump is, by far, the most left-wing president we've seen in decades on virtually every issue that actually matters. when he upsets people, he does so by leaning left far more often than he does so by leaning right. but, he also represents a party that, with the confirmation of amy barrett, has reaffirmed itself as being so far right that it's outside of any reasonable discourse. this is a very strange juxtaposition - the most right-wing party in the history of democracy in an alliance, however uneasy, with the most left-wing president since the dawn of neo-liberalism.
if i could vote for trump without the republican party as backdrop, i might consider it. that's not possible.
his opponent, joesph biden, is just about the most textbook, run-of-the-mill, old-timey conservative that you could pull out of the bottom of the barrel. he's run that way, too - constantly positioning himself to the right of trump, and doing so in a way that is not at all unconvincing. he's managed to peel off a substantive chunk of the republican party, along with a substantive chunk of it's base, along with it.
so, what are we going to get if joe biden wins? i'm truly led to the conclusion that it's what the republican party actually wants, if it could just do a substitution, or perhaps make a trade. how many draft picks do they want for hunter? and, that's the literal exact opposite of what i want.
so, if trump wins, the republican party will remain in charge and have to deal with trump until they can fully neutralize or otherwise get rid of him; if biden wins, the republican party will remain in charge by taking over the democrats from the inside out. it's a win-win for the republicans, then.
...and a lose-lose for the left.
it is for that reason that i'd prefer to see donald trump win; at least there is some possibility of revolt, that way, even if the contemporary movements lack any meaningful revolutionary potential. at the end of four years, maybe we'll be back to talking about class again. and, what is the result of four more years of environmental activism? i'd have to think it will be more than biden will ever accomplish. after all, trump is right to point out that mr. biden has yet to accomplish much of anything he hasn't tried to evade and distance himself from.
so, my endorsement is not just for the green party and howard hawkins but for four years of protests and revolt. i've been toying with this since the start, but my mind is made up - we're better off revolting against trump than disappointing ourselves with biden.
but, that might just be the point. i'll get to that tomorrow.