My Thoughts on the 2024 Presidential Election

I watched a lot of TV over the last few days, and I've come up with this conclusion: There is too much coverage of the Dallas Cowboys. Seriously, they are a mediocre to above-average team and have been that way for nearly 30 years. While I stand by my opinion of the Cowboys and the media obsession with this team, that's obviously not the point of this post. 

I created Sean's Ramblings as a diary of sorts. The purpose of some posts is to share something entertaining or interesting with people who read this, but there are other posts that are more for me. I like being able to look back at posts I wrote about major moments of my life over the last 20 years. Big things like the birth of my kids and the passing of my parents. I also see this blog as a bit of a time capsule for me. Because of that, I want to write my thoughts on the 2024 presidential election in real time. 

Let's start with this. I'm disappointed with the results. I wanted Kamala Harris to be the 47th president of the United States and not just because I predicted in January 2020 that she would be president on January 1, 2030. (My prediction of the Kansas City Chiefs winning the most Super Bowls in the 2020s is looking good right now.) Obviously, this is 20-20 hindsight, and I'm not trying to play the blame game (though it may sound like it). Joe Biden never should have run for reelection. Back when he was running for president in 2020, he talked about being a 1-term, transitional president. At some point during his term, probably when he saw that Trump was going to be the Republican nominee, he changed his mind. Many believe that Biden thought he was the best (or only) person who could defeat Trump since he did it before. However, it was clear during his debate with Trump over the summer that Biden could no longer serve as president and campaign for re-election at the same time and then do the job for another 4 years. He should have bowed out a year ago, allowing for a Democratic primary. Again, I'm really not trying to blame Biden. I think he is a good person and should be remembered as someone who dedicated his life to serving Delaware and America.

Unfortunately, Biden's late decision to bow out of the race left Kamala Harris little time to organize. Again, this is hindsight, but even after her time in the Senate and as Vice President, she's not that well known to many Americans. I'm writing this acknowledging that I follow politics rather closely and understand that many people don't. At least by polling data, Biden isn't considered popular with the majority of Americans, and Harris struggled to show where she differed from him. For many people, illegal immigration was one of the most important issues in the election. Even though a vice president has little to do with the policies and actions of the president, by being part of the Biden administration, she became the candidate responsible for any real or perceived border crisis. Sure, border crossings are down and a bipartisan deal to provide increased border security was killed by Trump telling House and Senate Republicans not to support the legislation, but that wasn't the message much of the electorate heard. Same with the economy. Inflation in America was and is lower than most of the world and the unemployment rate is down, but people see higher grocery bills and higher interest rates on homes and vehicles and blame the current administration. 

So even though Trump started campaigning for president nearly a decade ago and doesn't seem to have much interest or ability to formulate specific policies (see the concept of a plan for a new health care system) other than making bold statements (see ending the war in Ukraine in 24 hours), Trump appears to have won more votes based on the issues. Fine. I mean, not fine, but fine. I'll get more to the issues momentarily.

Character needs to count for something. Even Trump's biggest supporters admit that he needs to get off social media and tone down his rhetoric. That's being generous. He's a bully who constantly insults people. He's a terrible example for kids. He's a sore loser who never admits defeat or that he is wrong.

He was found guilty of 34 felonies for falsifying business records. A jury found him liable for sexual abuse. 27 women have accused Trump of sexual assault. I'm sure that there are some MAGA members who think that everything is a big conspiracy against Trump. Do they truly believe that ALL of this is made up? That's like believing that Cleveland Browns QB Deshaun Watson just likes getting massages from different massage therapists each time. 

It really says something that VP Mike Pence, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, and many other members of his administration refused to endorse or support Trump.

Okay, back to issues. Deport criminals? Assuming there is some type of proof of crimes and/or due process, no one is going to argue with this. Get em outta here.

Mass deportation for all undocumented migrants including those who have been in the US for years, pay taxes, and contribute to society? Not so fast my friend. Trump also wants to pardon the January 6th rioters. But I thought it was antifa or government operatives who rioted. So why exactly is the "tough-on crime" Trump going to pardon those convicted? Oh, it was actually Trump supporters that rioted, and he wants to show his support for them.

This post is too long already. I haven't even touched on abortion, LGBT rights, the fact that Trump wants the licenses of CBS and ABC revoked, and that he will go after political opponents. I haven't included the role of Elon Musk (whose companies have billions of dollars in federal contracts; hello conflict of interest!) and Robert Kennedy Jr. (with years of experience as an environmental lawyer but will be in charge of health and have nothing to do with the EPA) in the administration. There's just so much. Maybe Trump will try to be a president for all Americans like he said in his speech after winning the election. Based on his history, I'm not counting on it, but I'm trying to be positive. I'm hopeful that Trump will be good for Israel in getting the hostages home and helping to end the conflicts between Israel and the Iranian proxies.   

I guess I'll end with this. My parents were both government employees. Yes, they were in stable jobs with good benefits, but they both wanted to help people. We grew up directly across the street from a parkway exit. Over the years, friends and neighbors wanted us to put campaign signs in our front yard due to it being a high visibility location, but my parents refused to do so because they couldn't as federal employees. They took this very seriously. This is a big part of why Project 2025 scares me. Mass firings of good civil servants doing their jobs just because they don't share the same political affiliation of the administration is not the way to make America great again. It's the exact opposite.

Photo of Harris by Alex Brandon (AP). Photo of Trump from Getty Images.

No One Cares About This Post

Prior to the November 2020 elections, I asked a bunch of people to share their predictions about the results. It went really well and was a lot of fun. Therefore, I thought I would try again with the November 2022 midterm elections. I asked friends, political science professors, and journalists to share their predictions and got no responses. Maybe people are just tired of politics and the never-ending commercials. Maybe people didn't want to put predictions on record. I guess it doesn't matter the reason. I'm not going to focus on the people who didn't participate. Enjoy!

Josh: Writer of Josh's World, multiple winner of annual best blog award, and always game for whatever blog idea I have. 

Rich: One of my favorite follows on Twitter and co-host of the podcast Why Bloody Valentine 

Sean: That's me. The author of this blog. Thanks for reading!

1. What party will control the House after the November elections?

Josh: The Republicans will take control of the House

Rich: I think the Democrats somehow hold onto the House, but it will be very, very slim.

Sean: While the talk has been about the economy of inflation, I think the Democrats will hold because of abortion.

2. What party will control the Senate? Please provide your prediction for the actual split too. (For example, 51-49 and which party will have more seats.)

Josh: Democrats 52-48

Rich: GOP for sure taking back the Senate. I'd say probably 52 - 48, but I would be shocked if they scored 53 or 54 seats.

Sean: Dems 52-48.

3. Who will win the Pennsylvania Senate race between John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz?

Josh: Fetterman. I do not think the debate will hurt Fetterman as much as pundits are saying. I think most people have made up their mind, plus many people empathize with someone who had a stroke and is expected to make a full recovery.  

Rich: Sadly I think Oz wins. The stroke was a real killer for Fetterman's campaign and now we find out he hasn't worked in a factory?????

Sean: Fetterman. I think he gets a boost from Obama and Biden campaigning for him and enough people not wanting to vote for a New Jersey guy.

4. Who will win the Georgia Gubernatorial election between Stacey Abrams and the incumbent Brian Kemp?

Josh: Brian Kemp, but it will be incredibly close again.

Rich: Brian Kemp. Won't be terribly close. This race is too far off from Abrams' peak popularity.

Sean: I think Kemp will win, but I also think Warnock will hold off Herschel Walker. I just don't understand how a split result could happen. Seems like everyone voting for Kemp would vote for Walker and everyone voting for Abrams would vote for Warnock.

5. Five states (Arkansas, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Maryland) have ballot measures to legalize marijuana? How many will approve these measures?

Josh: 4. Arkansas will be the weird one.

Rich: I think we get three. Maryland, Missouri, and one of the Dakotas.

Sean:  Definitely Maryland and probably Missouri. You know what? It's going to pass in all 5.

6. Will California voters approve Proposition 27, the Legalize Sports Betting and Revenue for Homelessness Prevention Fund Initiative? (The amount of money put into campaigns for and against this proposition - over $383 million - is staggering!)  

Josh: California's voters can be weird with their propositions. I am going to say No

Rich: Yes. 

Sean: There are more commercials for sports betting than there are for elections. Plus, every sports network shows lines for all of the games. California voters will want in and vote yes.

7. In arguably the most important measure on any ballot in November, will Maryland Question 1 to rename the Maryland Court of Appeals to the Supreme Court of Maryland and the Maryland Court of Special Appeals to the Appellate Court of Maryland pass?

Josh:  Oh definitely, Supreme Court of Maryland just sounds better. Every state should get together and come up with a naming system for the courts to keep it consistent. 

Rich: Earth shattering stuff here. I think it will pass. I mean it makes sense. I also can't imagine anyone being super fired up to vote for or against this so who the heck knows?

Sean: Yes, but I really hope there's a strong write-in vote for Supreme Courty McCourtface!

8. Please feel free to share any other thoughts or opinions about the 2022 elections.

Rich: I don't think it is going to be the bloodbath the media is seemingly hyping up for the Democrats, but they're obviously going to lose ground here.

I said at the beginning of election season if only one of them could win I'd rather Shapiro win and Fetterman lose and I think that's what we will see.

The GOP has gone full idiot with candidates like Mastriano and Walker and it's distressing to say the least.

You can listen to my horror movie podcast on all major Podcast apps. Just search Why, Bloody Valentine. New episodes from 03:00 AM every Monday, so you can have em with your breakfast.

Sean: Please feel free to share your predictions in the comments below. I'm also really excited for the end of political ads for a while.

Random Ramblings: Elections & More Edition

Today is election day in Virginia, and I think that I speak for Virginians and those in the DC area in that we’re looking forward to not seeing anymore political advertisements. I understand that there have probably been multiple studies about the effectiveness of ads on TV and at the beginning of YouTube videos, but how many millions of dollars are spent on these ads? Let’s say that there were 1,000 commercials that aired yesterday throughout Virginia (and between the various markets and numerous network and cable stations, this is probably a very low number). Half of this would certainly be sufficient. At this point, I feel like nearly everyone knows who they are voting for today. This money could be better spent on education, infrastructure, healthcare, and so much more. There are definitely political and media groups getting rich from elections.

On a related election topic, I pass several yard signs for Bob Frizzelle who is running for the Virginia House of Delegates. Every time I see them, I wonder how he's related to the teacher with her magic school bus.

After working at the same place for over 16 years, I finally got a parking spot in the building. For the first 15 years, I took the bus and Metro to work. I worked from home for the last year and a half. Now, I'm working from the office a few days a week, but I'm not really comfortable being on potentially crowded Metro trains twice a day. With a recent train derailment and Metro taking many of its cars out of service, I feel like I made the right call for now since waiting 30 minutes between trains doesn't quite work with my schedule. 

Last Friday, The Moose's 5th grade class had a costume day where they could dress like a book character. Since he was going to wear his baseball uniform for Halloween, The Moose found a book about Sandy Koufax. Instead of wearing his team's hat and jersey, we got him a Koufax T-shirt and LA Dodgers hat. You may have your opinion about the team, but the Dodger blue color is fantastic!

Finally, I met someone last weekend named Arlo Guthrie. While he was not THAT Arlo Guthrie, I'm so proud of myself for not asking about his music career or making any reference to his name and the musician. 

Voting Results In My Neighborhood

I like my neighborhood. It’s a community of about 1,800 condos, townhouses, and single-family homes in Northern Virginia built around an 18-hole golf course. The fact that I can say that I live on (or across the street from) a golf course sounds much more fancy than it is. There’s a pool we use in the summer, a playground for the kids, and tennis courts and a fitness center that I barely use. It’s also a unique community in its diversity. All ages live here, and there are people from many different cultures and ethnicities. It’s been a good place to live over the last 10 years.

With today being election day in Virginia (and several other states), I thought it would be fun to go back to see how candidates have fared in our precinct since I moved here. Here are the results from the 2012 and 2016 primaries.

In 2012, Mitt Romney defeated Ron Paul by a 2-to-1 margin. Were there no other candidates running in the 2012 Republican primary?

In 2016, Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio(!) got the most votes. What's amazing to me is that Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, and Carly Fiorina all got exactly 1 vote each. Jim Gilmore got two!

Overall, based on the November general elections results in both 2012 and 2016, it appears that there are more Democratic voters than Republican voters in my precinct, but it's not a huge majority.

Anyway, I just thought it would be interesting to share this, and I plan on updating this post soon with the 2020 Democratic Presidential primary results.

The Moose Runs For Office

My eight year old son, The Moose, is running for his third grade classroom Student Council Representative. The Student Council is made up of two representatives from each classroom and meets once or twice a month to improve the school and community. I have no idea what that means. I mean, I know what it means, but I'm not sure how they accomplish this. I'll share his platform and portions of his speech momentarily, but it's nice to see him following in his father's footsteps.

Yes, I was a class officer during my junior year of high school (and also served in Student Government in college). How did I get elected an officer in my 450+ high school class? I still have no idea. I knew it made no sense to run for President or Vice President. The President during our sophomore year was (and still is) intelligent and very popular becoming Homecoming Queen during our Senior Year. She was also possibly the best soccer player I played against. I remember shadowing her in a game when I was probably 13 or 14 and was excited to hold her to one goal in our team's victory. I'm pretty sure that she's a doctor now. Our Vice President was known in the area for her acting, and she was the lead in our high school musicals. I believe that she also earned a Gene Kelly Award nomination during our Senior year. She continued in acting after graduation appearing in at least one Sex in the City episode and the film Failure to Launch. All I remember about the movie was that Terry Bradshaw was awful in it. Actually, was he naked in it? That's something I don't want to think about ever again. She's now a lawyer (the vice president, not Terry Bradshaw).

Anyway, I decided to run for class secretary. While I don't remember making any speeches or having any type of platform, I made a few posters that weren't very exciting. Somehow I won. I helped put together our homecoming float and organize the Junior/Senior prom (even though I didn't go). Apparently, this was not enough to get reelected during my senior year. Of the four class officer positions, the president, vice president, and treasurer were all the same all three years. The secretary was the same during my sophomore and senior years. I went down as a footnote only to be remembered if someone is looking in our junior year yearbook.

As for The Moose, he has a solid plan. He wants hour-long PE (physical education), music, library, and technology. I mean, it’s not like the teachers and school administration can extend times for specials in the middle of the year, but his third grade classmates don’t know this. He also wants longer recess with more gym equipment (specifically balls) and monkey bars. The extra physical activity makes sense since the kids will need to work off the calories from his plan of having cookies available for sale in the cafeteria every day. He also wants to have a school shirt day. I’m pretty sure the school already has a school spirit day, but I like the idea. Besides his platform, The Moose wants classmates to vote for him because he is friendly, likes sports, and wants to make the school a better place. He has my vote! Plus, I can guarantee that he won’t threaten, bully, or insult people on Twitter (or in person).

I'll let you know how he does. The Moose practiced his speech that he's giving to his class many, many times.

Update: Although The Moose did not win, he said that he finished 2nd out of 6 candidates. He was very pleased with himself and his speech, and I'm really proud of him for trying this. Now, I'll have to teach him how to lobby his classroom representative to try to extend PE, music, etc. and get cookies in the cafeteria every day!

Jerry Falwell Jr.: Sore Loser

I planned on writing a detailed post about Tuesday's election results in Virginia with voter statistics, exit poll data, and more. While I still have a few notes about the results below, this tweet by Jerry Falwell Jr. deserves its own post.

DC should annex NOVA and return the governance of VA to Virginians! The founders intended DC to include all fed employees who are conflicted

— Jerry Falwell (@JerryFalwellJr) November 8, 2017

There are certainly some cultural and economic differences between Northern Virginia and the rest of the state. The proximity to Washington gives Northern Virginia a much more diverse population with residents from all over the world, and, as my child care bills can prove, a higher cost of living than the rest of Virginia. For example, I think I once read that there are 70 languages spoken at home for kids at my son's public elementary school.

Although I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and will always consider myself a Pittsburgher, I've now lived in Virginia (specifically Northern Virginia) for 16 years, nearly as long as I lived in Pittsburgh. My children were all born in Virginia. I pay local and state taxes in Virginia. I have a (nominal) position on the PTA board and volunteer at Celebrate Fairfax each year. I also coached my son's community soccer team and been a referee for youth soccer across Northern Virginia for well over a decade. I am a member of a synagogue, root for the George Mason University basketball team, and have Virginia 529 plans for my kids. Sure, I would like to do more in the community, particularly volunteering, but I have limited time with three young kids and a job. My point is that I'm a Virginian and you have no right, Mr. Falwell, to think that I'm not based on the area of Virginia where I live.

So are people in Northern Virginia not Virginians because there may be differing political viewpoints? Falwell must know that the majority of money to fund and govern the state comes from Northern Virginia, right? Let's go back in history a bit. There have been 8 presidents from Virginia. Perhaps Falwell heard of one of them named George Washington who lived much of his life at Mount Vernon located in Alexandria, part of Northern Virginia.

You know what else is in Northern Virginia? Arlington National Cemetery, a hallowed place to honor and remember those who served our country. Falwell may have also forgotten that residents of Northern Virginia lost their lives on 9-11 at the Pentagon.

I guess in Falwell's mind, real Virginians need millions of dollars to get their schools out of debt. And you're going to tell me that none of the contributions came from people in Northern Virginia? I'm sure real Virginians also get life insurance payouts of $34 million when their fathers pass away to save their school.

Maybe I'm being too hard on Falwell. As someone from a religious family, perhaps he was devastated by the recent Sutherland Springs, Texas church shooting and finally decided that there needs to be some gun control measures in this country. Due to this stance, maybe he wants the NRA, headquartered in Fairfax in Northern Virginia, to disassociate itself from the governance of Virginia. In that case, my apologies to Mr. Falwell.

Or maybe Falwell decided that it is unfair that nearly 680,000 residents of Washington DC have no representation in Congress and feels like the best way for this to occur is to have Northern Virginia merge with DC. It's not practical and there's no interest from either side to make this happen, but maybe Falwell is trying to bring some attention to this injustice.

Probably not. As someone from a religious family and the leader of an institute of higher education, Falwell should set an example of working together, not helping to spread divisiveness.

Two more election notes:

1. Arguably the biggest election result was Danica Roem becoming the first openly transgender person elected and seated in a U.S. statehouse. She defeated incumbent Bob Marshall who once referred to himself as the Chief Homophobe. He also introduced a "bathroom bill" prohibiting transgender people from accessing spaces that don't match their biological sex at birth. Roem was asked to comment on Marshall after her win and had an awesome response. "I don't attack my constituents. Bob is my constituent now."

While Roem out-fundraised Marshall, all politics is local. Roem canvassed neighborhoods, attended any community event she could, and focused on the most important topic in the community: traffic. Meanwhile, Marshall refused to debate Roem and referred to Roem as "he" or "him" throughout the campaign.

2. When I dropped off my oldest son at school, someone running for delegate was outside the school. I awkwardly told her good luck but that I couldn't vote for her since I live in a different district. When I picked up my son 10 hours later, she was still there. I commented on her dedication being out there all day in cold weather. I was happy to see she won.


Falwell photo from WSET; Roem photo from her Twitter page.

2014 Election Day Food

Did you vote today? If so, good for you. If not, there's still time to read this and go to your local polling station. Unless, of course, you're reading this after the polls close, are under 18 or don't live in the United States.

Regardless, to thank you for doing your civic duty, several restaurants in the DC area (and probably nationally) are offering free or discounted food.

California Tortilla - Free Chips and Queso to anyone who either wears their "I Voted!" sticker, or says "I Voted!" to the cashier -- no strings attached

Glory Days & Fanfare Eatery – 10% off with coupon (sign up for their e-mail list)

The Greene Turtle – Children receive a free meal with paying adult.

Red Robin - Free Tavern Double Burger with Bottomless Steak Fries with purchase of 2 beverages and an entrée. (I’m not sure that makes this deal free). Offer available to everyone. Just mention “Tavern Double Tuesday” to receive the offer.

Do you know of other discounts? If so, let me know and/or leave them in the comments section. Go America!

Update...The Washington City Paper created their own list which is better than mine. I wish I saw this before I wrote my blog post.

Election Night LiveBlog

Watch the election night results with me and the usual LiveBlog cast of characters. We'll cover the television coverage of multiple networks and share views from Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Michigan, and more. We'll start at 9:00 Eastern time and go until I fall asleep on the couch. Please feel free to join us and share your thoughts on the election.

Vote Baby Vote

Deee-Lite, the creator of one of my favorite songs of the 90s, Groove Is In The Heart, wants you to vote. Listen to Lady Miss Kier!



After you vote, come back to Sean's Ramblings at 9:00 PM Eastern time for an election LiveBlog.

(h/t A.V. Club)

The War on Halloween

You probably notice all the candy on display at supermarkets. You also may have received invitations for Halloween parties and/or thought about what you or your kids will wear this year. Although the temperatures are falling (although the high is supposed to be around 80 in DC today) and we’re now a month into Fall, there is clearly a War on Halloween in this country. Look around your neighborhoods and especially at intersections for proof. Sure, there might be some places with Halloween decorations, but they are no match for political signs. That’s right; Halloween is under attack from political parties, political action committees and the media.

What do you see when you turn on the television? Political advertisements. In the DC area, not only are there ads for or against Obama and Romney, but we see countless commercials for Virginia’s Senatorial candidates and several Maryland propositions. You can’t enter or exit a Metro station without people asking about voter registration or handing out flyers (or newspapers in the morning). Even restaurants such as California Tortilla have contests based on the Presidential candidates (yes, the Obama burrito vs. the Romney burrito). If you want further proof that there is a War Against Halloween, look at The Simpsons. The long-running show features the “Treehouse of Horror” Halloween-themed episode each year. This year, Fox aired Treehouse of Horror XXIII on October 7th. October 7th! That’s more than three weeks before Halloween. Rupert Murdoch, also the head of Fox News, is surely to blame.

It’s time to fight back! We cannot lose this war. Halloween is too important to kids, candy companies, guys who like seeing women in scantily-clad costumes, dentists, women who like wearing scantily-clad costumes, and pagans (including San Francisco Giants OF Angel Pagan) among others. Sure you can vote on November 6th, but don’t let them take away October 31st!