In 1864, President Lincoln was not favored to win the upcoming election. He had the excuse of the Civil War to postpone it. He had a Congress that might very well have gone along with him, had he requested it. Facing all of this, he nevertheless declared, "If the rebellion could force us to forego or postpone a national election, it might fairly claim to have already conquered and ruined us.”
When it was suggested to Franklin Delano Roosevelt that the 1942 election should be delayed due to the opening of World War II, he unequivocally stated that doing so would mean, “...we have become fascists ourselves...”.
2020, faced with slumping pull numbers, Donald Trump whined, “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
The Civil War was not enough for a president (who, remember) was widely regarded as likely to lose the election, to cancel democracy.
World War II was not enough to convince another president that we should cancel democracy.
But Trump has slipped in popularity, and that’s reason enough for him to cancel democracy.
Ever watch Sesame Street with your kids? “One of these things just doesn’t belong here. One of these things just isn’t the same. Can you guess which thing just doesn’t belong here before the election begins?”
Seriously. Can you?
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