Today is Saturday, October 5, 2024. There’s just a month left to the most consequential election in our lifetime and I can’t wait until it’s all finally over! An online CNN analysis by Zachary B. Wolf fills in what the concerned American voter should be watching for during this extraordinary month. The piece is called “One month to Election Day. Here’s what to watch.”

So far, the presidential election cycle has been bonkers in that we’ve witnessed a sitting president dropping out of the race in late July, the repugnican nominee narrowly (?) escaping two assassination attempts, and the rise of the first woman of color on a national ticket.

“Voting early and by mail is already under way in much of the country, although early voting is not expected to reach the same level as it did in the COVID-19 pandemic election of 2020.” Trump remains a mail-voting skeptic, but Republicans are embracing the practice in key states this year in an effort to keep pace with Democrats.

In terms of who is backing the two disparate candidates, Dump has the backing of the odious and insane Elon Musk, the richest man on the planet, while Harris has both supporters from the left and the right. Harris has support from high-profile backers like former President Barack Obama who will hit the campaign trail for the next 27 days for the vice president and – from the right – anti-Dump Republicans like former Rep. Liz Cheney who will campaign for Harris and try to appeal to moderates, independents, and even Republicans who want to move on from the Orange Turd.

On the other hand, Dump is only getting backing from the far right in the form of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who will appear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, along with the insurrectionist in the same location where Drumpf was first shot in the ear by a would-be assassin – and bad shot – in July.

It’s very clear that Dump has fewer surrogates he can rely on in his satanic quest for the White House. Former repugnican President George W. Bush is not a vocal supporter, and his vice president, Dick Cheney, said he will vote for Harris. The party has changed so much under the Golden Idol that Bush and Cheney would probably be booed by those in attendance at a Dump rally.

As for the economy, there is good news that voters’ perceptions of the economy are shifting toward Harris. There are shifts deeper down among key voters in key states that Drumpf’s lead on voters who trust him to deal better with inflation – Huh?- is gone. Reinforcing this perception, Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report, says that “Voters . . . they’re not feeling great about the economy, but they’re feeling less pessimistic about the economy.”

As for my own little contribution to the Harris-Walz campaign, I can now say that I finished writing my 70 postcards to 70 unregistered voters in Hummelstown, Pennsylvania. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to finish them by the deadline of October 7 since I was in New Jersey on October 3rd and 4th and was seeing our friend “Gene” today for a late lunch at Peter Luger’s. So I rushed to get them out by October 2.

I’m hearing despite all of the shit known about Dump, the race is still deadlocked. How is this even remotely possible, given that in the past, if a candidate were known to have an extramarital affair, it would destroy his chances of ever getting into the White House like what happened to John Edwards in 2008. During his campaign, it was reported by the National Enquirer that Edwards was having an affair with a campaign assistant which at first, he denied, but in August 2008, he acknowledged the affair. In 2010, Edwards admitted that he was the father of the child born to her in 2008. Another blast from the past who earned the ire of the American voter over carnal indiscretions was Gary Hart who was the front-runner for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination until he dropped out amid revelations of extramarital affairs. He represented Colorado in the United States Senate from 1975 to 1987.

Fast forward to 2024, we have a candidate, Donald Duck, who has been adjudicated a sexual predator after he was successfully sued by writer E. Jean Carroll in 2023 and is also caught on tape saying he can grab women’s pussies with no compunction, and yet, he doesn’t lose an iota of support from those who regard him as an Orange Jesus. I’ll never know why! It’s not the only the type of candidate who has changed, it’s primarily us who have undergone a transformation of values, ethics, and whatever you want to call it, from the early days of Hart and Edwards in which those things still mattered.

Before it gets too late, I’d like to comment on a show that Elliot and I are going to see tomorrow. It’s a spoof of the Orange Turd called Dictator for a Day and it was written by Elliot’s former student in middle school, Rich Herschlag. (Here I’m using his real name if you want to look this up.) The play is being performed at the Producer’s Club, on West 44th Street, at 3. I believe tomorrow is the last performance, but it’s being taped for streaming, from what I’ve heard. I’ll let you know the details surrounding the show and my reaction to it tomorrow evening.

Our trip down to Cherry Hill on Thursday to visit with my best bud, “Harold,” and his family for Rosh Hashanah proved to be very enjoyable and fulfilling. We left Atticus alone for the weekend since we didn’t have our reliable cat sitter to sit for us this time. We made very good time getting to Harold and “Rachel”‘s house, even with stopping at Jackson Hole for breakfast in Jackson Heights.

We made no other stops on the way toward Cherry Hill and we arrived around 2:15 p.m. We were told to arrive between 2 and 4:30, I believe. We had some time to schmooze before going to shul to participate in the custom of Tashlich, the ceremony of throwing your collected sins from the year away into a body of water. We had a nice light lunch on the deck and then tumbled into Harold’s car to drive to the synagogue by 5 to participate in the service.

We all meet by the front of the synagogue and wait for the youngish rabbi to lead the way to the site where the members will throw their pieces of bread or challah into the creek. Everyone is given a sheet with the prayers on it in the open field and we chant the necessary prayers before walking down to the water to symbolically throw our sins away.

After the ceremony, we all walk back to the synagogue to have a lovely meal under a big tent. There is pasta, salad, vegan tacos, and desserts, and beverages available, but no coffee. At this point, Harold’s son and daughter-in-law, “Zander” and “Nalah,” make an appearance and sit with us to have dinner. Zander decides to bring their Aussiedoodle Cupcake, but doesn’t leave him in the car. He brings him back to the house which is just minutes away.

A truly funny thing happened when we all drove home after dinner and discovered that the couple’s dog Cupcake threw the chocolate babka that we brought to Harold and Rachel down to the floor and made dents into the cake. It was obvious that the dog chewed the cake in certain spots. We were able to salvage some of the cake, which was good, but a large portion of it was gone. At this point, Nalah took the dog aside and scolded him intensely for what he had just done. It seemed as if Cupcake were chagrined over what he had done. He just loves his mistress and doesn’t want to disappoint her.

Anyway, that was one humorous highlight of our visit with Harold and Rachel. The next day, I went to shul to spend some time with Harold, while Elliot stayed home with Rachel and kibitzed. I drove Elliot to the house from the hotel, in Mt. Laurel, and then drove to Temple Beth Shalom. I believed I entered about 10:30 and remained with Harold until about 11:45 a.m. We stayed to hear the rabbi’s drash, or sermon, which was very, very touching. On the surface, the rabbi talked about the healing, or cathartic effects about crying, and how the events of the past year in Israel and the war in Gaza have resulted in the overflow of tears and sorrow. I can’t begin to summarize how effective the sermon was and how poignant it truly was. I believe some people were actually shedding tears at the end of his sermon. It would not have been that far fetched if this actually happened.

So it’s getting late here, so I need to sign off before it’s another day.

Have a good Sunday.

Stay safe and be well.