Groundhog Day All Year

In these circular times, one thing seems pretty certain this Groundhog Day. Regardless of what the dirty rodent sees when emerges, Americans appear doomed to relive the 2020 presidential campaign all over again.

Sure, there are scenarios where Biden and Trump don’t face off in the General Election.

One of the old duffers may wind up in prison or fined into oblivion for his sexual escapades. Another might find his mind drifting off into the teleprompter, seeking answers to questions nobody asked. Hips break more easily in octogenarians, and recovery can take a long, long time.

I’m not wishing ill on either side, certainly nothing beyond what they deserve. But as I think of the potential substitutes, two women who bring Indian, African, and Jamaican descent into the picture, it occurs to me that American presidential campaigns have always been a sort of groundhog day event.

Since our founding, the quadrennial circus has featured one white dude vs another white dude year after year for nearly two decades. Not until 1984 did a woman emerge, when Geraldine Ferraro stepped up as a Vice Presidential candidate beside Walter Mondale.

Then diversity once again lay dormant.

Decades later we had our first non-white general election candidate in the same cycle that brought Barrack Obama into office. That two-term presidency was followed by a campaign featuring the first woman to lead her party into the general and the one-term presidency of Donald Trump.

I don’t need to discuss what happened next. Because we are very likely to see the whole thing happen all over again.

Just like Groundhog Day.

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