In the closing days of the 2024 presidential elections the vast majority of Americans have at least one thing in common:

WE CAN’T WAIT FOR IT TO BE OVER.

Not democracy, God(dess) forbid.

The horse race.

The Old Nag vs. the Young (by comparison) Filly.

Of course, it won’t fully be over Tuesday night, Wednesday morning or on any day this week.  The Old Nag has promised to keep punching up in class, believing the only way IT can lose is if the comparatively young(er) Filly cheats.  Hence the nationwide campaign to psychologically cast itself “the winner” in the minds of its supporters, encouraging their rage at the injustice of it all with the hope they will riot again and perhaps succeed this time at invalidating the results of a free and fair contest.

But it makes no matter. 

As sure as the horse Medina Spirit was denied its 2021 Kentucky Derby crown for trying to circumvent the rules, the Old Nag will similarly not reach the winner’s circle this Time Out. (Note: And please, someone give him one).

There will be a lot of hoopla, screeching bro pods, billionaire beefs and media meltdowns in the various man-o-spheres and blonde-ishspheres within right wing media.  But at the end of the day I have no doubt that this and they will come to naught, and in January the rightful victor will put their hand on the Bible (Note: A politically non-partisan one not shamelessly hawked by one of the candidates) at the Capitol building and America will have sworn in its rightful winner.

And first female president.

KAMALA HARRIS.

And there is one group that we can most particularly thank for this good fortune – as well as all of our lives when you think about it —

WOMEN.

All the mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, nieces, co-workers, neighbors, spouses, and friends who voted for her.

Sure, it was a group project.  And no one’s taking away anything from anyone, most especially not from Kamala Harris herself, or her running mate, Tim Walz.  Nor Pres. Joe Biden, who did something that almost no man in a top job in America has ever done.

Step Aside.

For the “Girl.”

But this is what was bound to happen once they got the right to vote.

More than ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

Does it make it any worse for Team Old Nag that this woman is a mixed race woman of color?  Probably.  But let’s table that for now and stay with what we all are beginning to see will be the deciding factor here unless we are deciding to turn away, put our hands over our ears and remain willfully ignorant.

You can’t take rights, especially bodily autonomy rights, away from a group that makes up the majority of the country (52%) and expect that majority to not exercise its power (and reject you) at the ballot box.  Especially in a democracy. 

Which is why the leaders of a lot of those rights-denying guys, Club Nag de Olde, are trying to Strong Man their way around the U.S. Constitution, spread disinformation, change the way we operate and declare victory before the votes are in. (Note: For more details on this and their future their plans, see #Project2025).

The first big turn of the screw – or as I am now calling it, The (Inevitable) November Surprise – was the release of the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll this weekend that showed Kamala Harris has “leap-frogged” (Note: Their phrase, not mine) over The O.N. in Iowa., where she leads 47% to 44% among the state’s likely voters.

To demonstrate just how significant this is:

1. This is a generally accurate, but fairly careful, poll.
2. Iowa is ruby red state that delivered substantial presidential victories in 2016 and 2020 to the horse running against Ms. Harris.
3. As recently as September, Ms. Harris was trailing in the state by 4%.

And –

d. Independent women now back Ms. Harris there by a whopping 28% margin and women over 65 support her by a more than 2-1 difference (63% to 28%).

Of course, any poll is merely a snapshot in time, but to swing this far forward in the lead several days before Election Day in a state where your opponent was previously heavily favored in, and has substantially won in the past, is seismic – and portends something bigger.  Was it helped along by the Old Nag loudly neighing at a public appearance heard by millions of people that ITS going to “protect women” WHETHER THEY LIKE IT OR NOT?

There’s not a female I know that doesn’t understand what that tone and those words mean.  It tells them I am the ultimate decider of what’s best for you and there is nothing you can do about it.  At. All.

Just who are these Club Nag de Olde members?  Are they the real Aliens de Illegal?  Because in 2024, they bear so little resemblance to how the majority of us speak.  At least, in public.

This is not to take away anything from Vice President Harris, her pitch-perfect campaign, her many proposed policies or her consistently smart, joyful, confident and plain-speaking ability to communicate a vision of true American freedoms, hopes and values.

If you want a rundown of them go to her website:  kamalaharris.com  

If you need more of a comparison between what she offers vs. her rival, click here.

And here.

But at some point, American presidential elections begin to swing on intangibles that can’t be addressed by a single, or even multiple, policy position.  And those intangibles change depending on who the candidates are and the moment of history we are in. 

And not only our present, but our pasts.  And our future.

I’m one of those gay guys who has been privileged to have a number of close friendships with women over the years.  They are all wonderful and different and smart and supportive and from various generations.  But what they ALL do not tolerate is being talked down to, diminished or passive/aggressively (Note: Not to mention merely aggressively) bossed around by men.

So when I saw the genuine RAGE of so many leading conservative male voices in reaction to a Harris 2024 ad geared towards religious women, Republican women, or women married to MAGA-type men, that told her who she voted for was HER CHOICE, and that you can “vote any you want and no one will know” and “what happens in the booth, stays in the booth”, I knew something significant had been unmasked.

One popular Fox host foamed that the visual of a wife lying by omission to her conservative husband about who she voted for was the equivalent of her having an affair.  A top-rated podcaster said it was inexcusable, proclaiming that her husband is likely breaking his back to “give her a nice life” and that this is the thanks he gets.  Others blabbered even more offensive stuff that I’ll leave to your imagination but if you want to know what they are go to this link, watch the commercials and google some of the reactions.

It is particularly noteworthy that this Harris commercial was conceived by an organization called Common Good, which is targeted towards people of faith whose religious leaders and families are telling them they are required to support conservative Republicans.

But what is even more noteworthy is that there were TWO commercials actually made – the aforementioned one narrated by Julia Roberts – and a second one, narrated by George Clooney, that urged men concerned about the fate of the women in their lives under Old Nag Rules, to secretly vote for Harris.

To date there has been zero national uproar about Mr. Clooney urging guys to do what they must do.  But plenty of belly-aching about the chutzpah of Ms. Roberts telling women to go against their husbands’ beliefs, much less keep it from them.

Boy, are all those guys, the charter members of Club Nag de Olde, in for a surprise this week.  And for the next four years.

Or, hopefully, eight.

Saturday Night Light – Pre-Election Cold Open (11/2/24)

P.S. – And if you haven’t — #VOTE.