My cartoon today is a parody of Kristen Welker's interview with GOP vice presidential hopeful Doug Burgum, the Governor of North Dakota. And some dozen or so other attempts by mainstream media to get veep wannabes to call the election already. It's a kabuki show put on by mainstream media and Trumplican politicians now that acceptance of election results is anathema to the leader of their party.
Once upon a time not so very long ago, the interviewer's question would have been a simple, "Yes, of course," spun around to "we expect to win" and all the policy reasons why.
But Trump expected to lose in 2016, which he could never square with having grown up believing that he deserves always to win. So he started blaming his anticipated loss on elections being unfair. He has continued that ever since, and considers it treasonous if anyone suggests that elections might be fair.
It's not a stretch for Republicans to accept the Trumpian position. The GOP has long accused Democrats of election shenanigans for letting urban people of color vote without having to pass a citizenship test. (Yes, that was the Dixiecrat tactic for decades after the Civil War. But those Dixiecrats have been Republicans ever since Reagan was president.)
Ironically, it's Republicans who have the baked-in advantage in presidential elections. Since the founding of the Republican Party, its candidate has been the winner four times in spite of coming in second in the popular vote. In that time, the Democrats' candidate never has. A majority of Americans now live in urban areas, but the electoral college skews rural.
But that's not good enough for the Trumplicans any more. Mr. Trump has demanded that only paper ballots cast in person at a polling place between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on the first Tuesday in November after the first day of November be counted, and that anybody still waiting in line at 8:00 p.m. be sent home so that election workers can report their complete tally by the time the TV news reports its exit polling. Or 8:05, whichever comes first.
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