May 14, 2019--Checked Out

A week into our Maine season one thing I noticed is that hardly anyone wants to talk politics. Not even many of the people we know who are Democrats and hate the idea that Trump is our president.

Mention Trump, mention Mueller, mention Mitch McConnell, and people avert their eyes and quickly change the subject. 

Mention Biden, mention the Green New Deal, mention Bernie and people want to talk about all the rain we're having.

I get it.

Everyone's exhausted, including me. Everyone is frustrated, everyone wants distractions. I'm embarrassed to admit that we've become obsessed with "Jeopardy" and the current superstar contestant, James Holzhauer, who has won almost $2.0 million. 

Many of the people I talk with want to ignore what's going on in Washington and the wider world. It's too depressing. I feel the same way.

I haven't watched "Morning Joe" since arriving. Never-mind Rachael

This is making me nervous. It's one thing if there's Trump Fatigue. One recovers from that. He wears you out, you take a step backward to recharge, lay low, and after a few days get back to exposing his lies, his dangerous moves, and you reengage in the struggle to find a Democratic challenger who can take him on and win in 2020.

On the other hand, what has me really worried is that he may be more than wearing us out but could be winning.

That his will to survive, his manic energy is a force of nature that some may feel is fundamentally irresistible. Perhaps transformative.

If I'm right about this, if I'm reading these vibes correctly, we need to make the effort to rouse ourselves and get back into the struggle. The consequences of allowing ourselves to be beaten down, of relenting, are too cataclysmic, too consequential to justify checking out. If only for a few weeks.

Then there is the good news--we have more than a year to get done what needs to get done. The polls suggest that some Trump supporters are experiencing their own version of Trump Fatigue. In this case, from their perspective, it is even more perilous because they have nowhere to go but with Trump. If they run out of interest and patience with him there is no one to replace them. Politically, they are the soft underbelly of his followers. They aren't making any more of themselves. Their's is a small pool that has no capacity for replenishment.

The bottom line, though, is that we had better keep our act together and pace ourselves for the long haul. After November 3, 2020 there will be time to rest and recoup. And hopefully celebrate.