In just one moment you’re going to find out how our book Too Good to Leave, Too Bad to Stay has a lot to do with what’s going to happen in the upcoming election for President. Really!
Here’s the thing. It’s just not true that about 160 millions Americans will be choosing our next President based on how they vote. Folks might think that’s true, but election experts of all parties and non-partisan experts too all know that it’s pretty much the opposite. Only a very few Americans will determine which of the two candidates win. A small minority of undecideds and possible non-voters in a small minority of counties in a small minority of states will tell the whole story.
Here's how Politico put it:
The outcome of the 2024 U.S. presidential election is expected to hinge on a relatively small number of key voters in critical swing counties within battleground states. Many of these counties fall into specific clusters, such as urban cores (e.g., Philadelphia, Maricopa), shifting suburbs (e.g., Ozaukee, Fayette), and swingy rural areas (e.g., Trumbull, Greene). These counties are spread across battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. A few crucial counties could make the difference given their political demographics and past electoral behavior .
Outside of this minority of a minority of a minority, the rest of us are already locked in. In fact, this election will be determined by a smaller group of undecideds than in every previous election.
So who are these undecideds?
Well, we know where they are geographically. We know things about them in terms of ethnicity, class, income, educations, gender, age, and so on.
But here’s the most important characteristic that distinguishes them from the rest of us. (And this is where Too Good to Leave, Too Bad to Stay comes in.)
They go about making decisions in a bad way, a way that keeps them confused and leads down wrong paths.
They make decisions in the same bad way that people do who are stuck in bad relationships and can’t decide whether to leave or stay. Bad decision makers do what many of us have actually been taught to do: they weigh the pros and cons. You know: draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper and on one side write down the reasons to leave and on the other side the reasons to stay.
Or, in this case, on one side the reasons to vote for Trump and on the other the reasons to vote for Harris.
Why is this bad? Because it distracts you from what’s most important. Here’s an example. You fall down and hit your head. You’re a little woozy and your head hurts, but you think, “Oh, I don’t need to go to the ER. I’ll be fine in a few minutes.” Well, maybe. But your partner, much smarter than you are at this moment, says, “Let’s check with our doctor.”
Does the doc draw a line down the middle of a sheet of paper and write down pros and cons of going to the ER? No way, José!
Instead, the doc asks a short list of question. For example, they might ask “Remind me: how old are you?”
And you say, “68.”
“Oh!” the doc say. “At your age if you have more than a minor bump on the head, if you’re feeling woozy and have a headache, you should go right to the ER, no question.”
Wasn’t that fast and easy? It was also good medicine. People over 60 have risks from head injuries that are much greater than for younger people.
What happened here was crucial. Doctors are going to ask themselves, “What’s the most important thing here?” Remember that question. It’s the key to everything.
Here’s how this connects to the all-important undecideds. They are making list of pros and cons. We know that because that’s what they’ve said! “Well, I know this and that about Trump, but I’m concerned some other stuff about Harris. So...I’m stumped”
Now here’s where I get partisan and lose 41% of you guys. Sorry to see you go. But the fact is that the things that concern folks about Harris are things like, “She’s changed her mind...,” “I don’t know where she stands on...,” “She’s inexperienced when it comes to...,” “How much did she accomplish as Vice President?”
Reasonable questions, but hardly disqualifying. The bottom line is that she’s a Democrat. And her policies, experience, decisions, flaws, and strengths fall in line with most of the Democratic candidates over the past 80 years. That may not be exciting, but now let’s look at Trump.
Here’s where you say, “What’s the most important thing?” And in Trump’s case—and what everyone agrees with except the most rabid Trump supporters—is that based on his record no one would hire him to manage a Burger King. For example:
His mind is failing at the same time as he’s getting older.
And when he was President he was revealed to be all wind. He said he’d hire the best people. But did he? If so, why did so many of his appointees decide they couldn’t work with Trump, and why did Trump feel he had to fire so many others?
He staked his presidency of building a wall, and there is no wall.
He’s a crude huckster.
No world leader respects him except—maybe!—the very worst world leaders.
And THAT’S why so many prominent Republicans and conservatives and former members of his administration are announcing they’re voting against him.
So if you’re undecided, throw away your pros and cons. Just ask yourself, “What’s the most important thing?” And you quickly see that while Harris may or may not be wonderful, she’s at a minimum okay. And Trump’s not okay at all. There’s a lot very, very wrong with him.
The other day a woman asked me, “My boyfriend is someone who is able to manipulate, lie, cheat, and will never ever admit he's wrong no matter what. He has strategically turned all my people against me, and now I don't know what to do. What should I do?”
“Run like the wind” is the obvious answer if you’re focused on the most important thing. But this poor fool is stuck in pros and cons.
If you’re undecided about this election, now you know what to focus on.
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