A Biden-Trump rematch is uninspiring for many, but there are reasons for hope too
By Michael O’Looney
We’re at it again. According to a recent survey of this year’s Joe Biden-Donald Trump matchup, it was found that the sentiment most people are currently feeling is one of “dread,” followed by exhaustion and depression.
Well, this isn’t the first time Americans felt this way. One can imagine what people felt before the election of 1860, the dread and uncertainty people felt at the prospect of a divided nation. Each side, North and South, dreading the direction their country was headed.
As a Baby Boomer, I recall the presidential election of 1968. It was a time of rage and outrage, a time when young people felt it was impossible to communicate their anger and moral indignation to their elders about ending an endless war. But at least back then young people felt united, thinking they were fighting for a worthwhile cause. And they were hopeful that leaders like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Eugene McCarthy and Bobby Kennedy would end the anger and hate that engulfed the nation.
Hopes were dashed
Then King and Kennedy died that year, both assassinated. Hard to find words, even now, to express how demoralized we were in the aftermath of that loss. To make matters worse, Richard Nixon was elected president and his recalcitrance about not wanting to be the first American president to lose a war resulted in four more years of young men dying and social unrest.
It seemed Nixon would no more change the direction the country was headed in than President Johnson. Again, we felt dread about the next four years. More than that, we felt exasperated, disappointed, helpless with the growing sense that we were not being heard, that they in Congress would not change anything.
Today Congress once more seems indifferent to our rage. The House speaker sits on a bill that would provide essential aid to a beleaguered Ukraine and expand border security. Again, we’re feeling frustrated with our leadership, uncertain about the path we should take in a world threatened by discord, mistrust and violence.
Two flawed candidates, again
We are all exhausted just thinking about another four years of Trumpian strife and self-glorification or another four years of seeing a faltering though well-intentioned, elderly statesman who simply may no longer have the energy or vision to guide the nation through the perilous times ahead.
We are exasperated because we know deep down one man does not possess the moral character and humanity we expect our leaders to have. In the other we see an aging man who has reneged on his earlier promise to pass the reins of leadership onto the next generation.
Perhaps it’s time for both presidential aspirants to step aside. They had their chance to move us forward, to inspire us to become our better selves and mend the wounds of division.
Truth is, they failed.
So we are again feeling angry and disappointed and dread the prospect of four years of the same — so much so that many Americans now feel disinclined to vote, believing their vote won’t change anything, struggling to find someone who can articulate a vision that will give us hope.
We’ve been here before
But we have experienced all this before. Yet we came out of it. We continued to make our voices heard. We got over the hump. For a while there we felt good about getting up in the morning. There was always the promise of America that countered all the negative feelings we had.
Perhaps we should remember in the coming months the maxim that helped our GIs in World War II — Keep calm and carry on. Hope is always good, too, the hope that Trump if elected becomes a better man and sees the good in all of us, not just his supporters. Hope that Biden if elected has the focus, determination and energy to heal the division, instill a faith in tomorrow and make this country better.
Michael O’Looney lives in Talent.
