The anxiety from watching America’s electoral sense of itself trickle in was nearly unbearable.
But all the electoral map readers are saying the election boils down to four battleground states: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and possibly Arizona.
Still, the first important count of sorts came earlier on Election Day. The Trump campaign cut down the victory party guest list at the White House from 400 — which exceeded D.C. standards but not federal ones — to 250.
250! Not the night’s magic electoral number of 270 — but perhaps that number’s first denial.
Could it be an omen that the gas light to which we’ve been subjected to these last four years is flickering out soon?
There was also the matter of the White House barricade count — actually a non-scalable fence from an administration that loves walls. Add to that the boarded shop windows in cities across the country. But who was protecting whom from what? Exactly what are we fearful of on Election Day? The voice of the American people?
Trump tweeted something this week about the potential for angry protests. But from what side? Or was he just fueling the fear? My hope is that all his talk failed to intimidate people from voting on the last day. People just want to save our democracy, not tear anything down.
