As the leaves fall on the lawn this autumn, we cannot be content to stand by and hope the wind will blow them onto the next lawn during this election season.
We cannot stand by as Donald Trump thumbs his nose at the will of the people to stack the Supreme Court in favor of conservative causes, hoping to repeal Roe v. Wade and the Affordable Care Act and be crowned king after the election.
According to the New York Times/Siena College Poll conducted between Sept. 22 and Sept. 24, 56% prefer that the winner of the Nov. 3 election should choose Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s successor, 60% of those polled think abortion should be “always or mostly legal,” and 57% support the Affordable Care Act.
Trump erroneously believes his nomination of a woman to replace Ginsburg will result in a seamless nomination process because the members of the Judiciary Committee will go easy on her since she’s a woman. Amy Coney Barrett is no Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The ideological divides between the two need to be exposed because Supreme Court decisions affect the everyday lives of all Americans.
The hearings tentatively scheduled to begin Oct. 12 will give the Democrats an opportunity to shine bright lights on the divides. When the Democrats point out that the Affordable Care Act is on the chopping block, which will impact over 50,000 New Hampshire residents receiving Medicaid expansion under the ACA not to mention the tens of thousands getting health insurance through the regular marketplace, how will the Republicans respond? They do not have a plan to replace the ACA. People will be left high and dry and will once again be subject to the whims of private insurance companies eager to see the ACA fall so they can line their pockets as they corner the market. Without the ACA, insurers will be able to reject people with pre-existing conditions or gouge them.
Trump recently signed an executive order to protect individuals with pre-existing conditions, but without some sort of congressional legislation, that order is useless. It is a smoke screen. It is a magic trick that will convince his base that he cares about people’s health and lives.
Meanwhile, Trump has conveniently avoided talking about the fact that over 200,000 people have died from COVID and over 7 million people have been infected (and probably now have a pre-existing condition). If Trump truly cared about the health and well-being of Americans he would press Congress to pass another much-needed COVID relief package to help the unemployed, small businesses, and cash-strapped cities and states; increase SNAP benefits to help the ever increasing number of food insecure people; and properly fund expanded testing and contact tracing.
But that would mean talking about the pandemic and the New York Times/Siena College Poll reveals a majority of people do not approve of his handling of it. Fifty-six percent say they disapprove of his handling, while 41% say they approve. Also, 49% of those polled believe the pandemic is not over and the worst is yet to come, while 43% feel the worst is over.
The same poll finds that two-thirds of voters say they would support a national mask mandate. Guess who does not support a national mask mandate? Trump. Guess who does support one? Biden. If there is a second wave, which appears quite likely, Trump opposes any lockdowns even if public health experts recommend them. Biden would listen to the public health experts and scientists. Trump only listens to the scientists who tout his line of thinking.
Who is Trump listening to when it comes to the much-anticipated vaccine? He’s probably listening to his financial advisers because whichever drug company comes up with the silver bullet will make a killing on the stock market and you know who will cash in. In light of the close scrutiny of 20 years of Trump’s tax returns recently reported by the New York Times, it looks as though Trump will need a cash infusion. Now he has even more incentive to stay in office for four more years to avoid prosecution of the many crimes he’s committed over the years, including tax fraud in all likelihood.
Like the leaves on our lawns, we cannot ignore our patriotic duty to become educated voters and exercise the right to vote on Nov. 3, either in person or by absentee ballot. We cannot be lulled into a sense of security by the New York Times/Siena College Poll that has Biden with 49% over Trump’s 41%. Remember 2016 when polls revealed Hillary was up by a similar margin.
Knowing Trump, there is likely an October surprise in his back pocket. And then on Nov. 3, after the votes are all cast but not yet counted, expect Trump to tweet that he has won the election by an overwhelming margin. Then the real fun begins and his army of lawyers will attempt to subvert the will of the people and King Trump will be coronated by the Supreme Court. Then we will never be rid of him.
If that is not incentive enough to get out and rake the leaves, I don’t know what else will inspire the masses.
(Susannah Colt lives in Whitefield. She can be reached at susannahbcolt@gmail.com.)