It’s July. The stay-at-home orders have been lifted, but deaths from the virus are continuing, unemployment is over ten percent, and consumer confidence is very low. Millions of small businesses have disappeared. The hospitality industry is fighting for survival. There is no rocket fuel in the recovery. Things are looking bad for November.
This is a moment made for the used car dealer in chief. He runs around the country like a madman, insisting that America is back (due to him, of course) and that renewed prosperity is just around the corner. The implicit–or, in some cases, explicit–message to red Americans is to risk their health and their lives for the sake of the economy and his re-election. After all, if the Democrats win, the country will be run by illegal immigrants, women, and gays, and we can’t have that, can we?
In some red communities, this actually works. Mostly, it doesn’t. In any event, red America, which represents a relatively small part of the overall economy, can’t bring the country back by itself. Unemployment is still in double digits in November. Only a miracle, or vote suppression on a massive scale, can save him now.