So... who else here keeps having to get over moments of major anxiety and dread about the U.S. election next week?

This is what it must have felt like to normal people in Germany before the Nazi took power. Sometimes Anxiety is appropriate.

2

I honestly believed 2020 would be the end of it. I thought 4 years would be enough time to prosecute him for his crimes, and legally disqualify him from taking office again.

That we're back here, now, and it's still too close to call, it makes me dread the future even if we win.

83

If you want a distressing read:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/12/11/what-happened-when-the-us-failed-to-prosecute-an-ex-president

The last time this happened, he got away with it clean, for basically the same reasons: It’s difficult, uncertain, unrewarding and dangerous to try to prosecute a popular insurrectionist, and the default choice of just leaving him alone is none of those things.

22
Why is it close though? Kamala was doing really well and was up in all the polls for some time. Did she make some bad decisions, like stated she'd help Israel continue with their genocide, paraded around with Liz Cheney while praising Dick Cheney, work heavily with Mark Cuban who then said Kamala will be very pro corporation and should fire Lina Khan?

-27
- it seems close due to weird polling and the fact that 40% of americans dont vote at all. i bet harris wins by 5% or more, the margins that the congressional races are exposing.
  
  15

Yes, since if Trump takes it I will lose access to my meds and probably die. It's fucking scary.

50

Is there anywhere you can go? Any other country that would take you?

16
- Too old, too poor, too sick. Nobody is taking US "refugees" in my position.
  
  I mean, I understand, I'm a drag on the system, they're not going to get a ton more economic output out of me. Still blows.
  
  Maybe that will change after the election but I don't expect the rest of the world to be too receptive to our refugees.
  
  33
I’m in a very similar position. Major preexisting condition which requires expensive care for the rest of my life, 10 years max of productivity left in me. No country would have me, and all I want to do is flee. Unless a miracle happens next week, but I’m honestly quite pessimistic.

4
Sorry to hear that. I hope Kamala wins still because Trump will likely try to overturn democracy, but at least you're alive unliked the 40k+ dead Palestinian children, women, innocent civilians that Kamala has helped kill.

-16
- Which needs to change. No one disagrees with that. Well, except a lot of Trump supporters.
  
  5

And it won't even be over on Tuesday no matter who wins.

I feel this part the most. Recent elections have obviously been chaos. But the dread of what could happen afterward has me stressed more than anything else. I'm looking forward to the political adds being over and all of the junk mail (I live in a swing state). But those are just noise compared to the potential social/economic fallout that feels like it's looming in the distance.

34

And the absolute saddest part is how we'll simply do this all over again in 4 years time, plus smaller versions before then for the Congressional midterms.

This likely will never end in our lifetimes. Like COVID it will become our new normal.

The good news there is that Trump really is something special. No really, bc like everyone on both sides hoped for Ron Desantis to replace him, but nobody can hold a candle to Trump's outright cult appeal.

And he will end in our lifetimes:-). After that, the likes of Ivanka and Jared won't be nearly such a force to be reckoned with. Like COVID, perhaps it will fade away into the background:-). (The caveat: we need to develop a vaccine against disinformation first, and that may prove tricky... but in any case, being forewarned is forearmed and without Trump, it may be easier to make headway.)

5

Completely and absolutely.

Do I need to make sure I'm near my family? What if Trump actually wins? Are things going to be okay? Do I need to apply for jobs outside the US? Should I go start hanging out with my buddy who lives way, way out in the woods, in the mountains? Is it all going to be completely fine, and just work out? Should I try to stay away from polling places? Should I get a gun?

Is this the time when it all changes?

23

I'm hoping for good results on election night so I can unplug for a bit. I feel like I'm going have a heart attack most days.

21

I'm worried that even if Harris wins, it won't be announced on election night. Remember 2020? It took several days for them to eventually call it. And then there was the whole multiple failed lawsuits and trying to overthrow the government thing on January 6th.

My hope is that Harris wins. By a lot. A lot a lot. Like, Karl Rove demands Megan Kelly go to the election desk because he can't believe it a lot.

8

I'm irritated with everyone lately and i know it's partially due to my election anxiety. Well, that and my shitty boss.

21

I know what it's like to have a shitty boss, I've had way too many of them. It makes even what should be a great job a thing you don't want to face every morning. So I'm sorry you have to put up with that.

9
- I leaned today that the worst one is retiring in 147 work days!
  
  3

I’ve been gnawing my nails off for a couple of months now, something I hadn’t done in almost 10 years. Politics and general world dumbfuckery are definitely high up in the list of causes.

19

Trying to mostly put it out of my mind. Have faith in the electorate, and all that jazz.

If things go to shit, things go to shit. My panic isn't going to change several thousand votes in a non-safe state short of self-immolation in front of the Washington Monument, and even then it's dubious. So, just trying to survive until then, when the US electorate rewards my limited faith in them and delivers Harris a victory in the electoral college.

If not? I've... made my peace with my eventual fate. Maybe I'll make something of it. Either way, not really scared of death anymore. Que sera sera, at least insofar as my own fate is concerned.

16

Every fucking election is so stressful. I thought thing were awful in 2004. Rampant nationalism and war-mongering, "us vs them" Islamophobia, and still zero queer rights.

Nope. Every four years its worse... I hate it so goddamn much.

16

All day every day for months now... It's only been getting worse since he kept getting better and better polling...

I'm just praying that their completely mask off racism against P.R recently actually does some good damage, but I doubt it. They have 2525282 other ways to overturn the election results now anyway... I just want to get it over with and know what we're in for. :(

12

2016 set off my ptsd something horrible. I don't have the healthiest coping methods, but I have the tastiest.

7

If you're in the US, don't just distract yourself!

most states have early in-person voting already in progress: https://www.vote.org/early-voting-calendar/ Look up your info and do it!
then make a list of your friends and get them to do the same
go to the local campaign office and tell them you want to help! Most of them let you sign up online too. You don't have to try to "sell" people, there are a lot of tasks like informing people of early voting, preparing canvassing packages, training to be a poll watcher, attending desks for outreach, etc. I've done several hours already and plan to do more.
if you are in a "battleground" state YOU CAN MAKE AN OBVIOUS IMPACT. But if you're in a "noncompetitive" state you can make things better too -- imagine a world in which Ted Cruz is kicked out of office, for example.

I'm not really into partisan politics and I have a lot of personal obligations, but this time next week I want to know I did everything I could.

11

I hold on to the thought that no matter what happens in this election Trump is out of the politics for good in 2028.

6

Hopefully he'll be in a jail cell by then. Or dead.

9
Hah hah. SC go brrrrr

3
- Haha Congress go burrrrr. If Democrats can get control at any rate.
  
  1

I've been doing well at distracting myself but the closer it gets the more anxiety breaks through. This week has been rough with Internet and power outages, right now I'm in the dark on dial-up speed mobile data and crawling out of my skin.

Because it's not fucking okay. I'm not okay.

One of our local races is just as important as the presidency, if not more so because a loss would shatter our blue bubble protections from the Cheeto.

I'm so very very very very very worried.

7

I definitely am. Just voted today

9

Well look at Mr. Perfect over here, "getting over" these major panic attacks?! :-P

On a more serious note, we're not okay. Even those who think the most strongly that they are - including black, gay, women etc. planning on voting Republican, thinking that surely the leopards won't eat their faces off? (and legitimately they might not... for a time)

Ironically, we all would have been better off if we had had more fear, especially back when it was possible to make more of a difference. e.g. that women's march after Trump's election and others like it the following year(s) was iirc the largest simultaneous collective gatherings of human beings that have ever occurred on planet earth before in the history of... literally ever - but what if it had been 5-10-50x larger than that even? Could the billionaire-bought media have so easily pushed it aside then?

Or we saw what happened when the powerful people asked Biden to step aside - he did. What if similar had happened to Hillary Clinton... or what if she had actually bothered to campaign in the midwest battleground states?

But all we can do is keep moving forwards. That's all that is (ever) possible. Live and learn, and keep fighting the good fight.

8

I work for an organization likely to be directly targeted by Trump. I'm holding my breath right now for what that looks like. I'm lucky I live in a state that respects its population, so that'll maybe blunt some impending problems.

7

Nothing has made it through my chemical shield yet.

5

I'm definitely drinking heavily on election day after I get back from voting.

4

Don't vote on election day if you don't have to. Who knows what sort of threat people will be under in line at the polls?

5
- I would vote early If I wasn't in so much pain. Plus I live in a blue area. Nobody is attacked here.
  
  1
- Early voting FTW!
  
  5

Same. Hope-posting is my best way to deal with it

2

Everyone remember that even if Trump loses, things aren't great. A vote on Election Day is a beginning for action, not the single responsibility of a citizen. Get familiar with your representatives that win their spot, get their contact info, find out what their positions are on topics (you already did that anyway, right?) Make that a regular thing, and let them know what your position is. Give them praise when they side with you, give them reasons you're unhappy when they don't. Keep notes and don't give up when you get back form letters or nothing at all. If everyone did this, they'd look into why all the fuss if for nothing else to stop people bugging them. They would rather people not call and email.

3

the best time to start calling your reps (among other supporting avenues) for ranked choice voting is nov 6th!

its our only hope for actual change!

4
Excellent take. The annoying thing about democracy is that it only works if you participate. This is one reason America is in such a mess: most Americans are now ignoring everything except the presidential election. The feature common to all authoritarian states is political apathy: "it doesn't make any difference", "we can't control anything anyway", etc. Actually, it does, and you can. But if you stop participating in democracy, you will end up losing it. And then it will take a war or a revolution to get it back.

2

Yep, and my normal escapes are skateboarding and bike riding, but I can't do either of those things because the shitty, faulty fender on my ENGWE EP2 Pro failed (thanks so much ENGWE!) and broke my arm. Tired of this insanity.

3

Having been through a few rigged elections myself, I think it will be business as usual. Social media has a tendency of exaggerating things out of proportion. This creates anxiety and helps people unsee the bullshit. I highly doubt that it’s the president who reigns this huge country, I’m convinced it’s all for show, so that we don’t get our pitchforks.

-5

I highly doubt that it’s the president who reigns this huge country, I’m convinced it’s all for show, so that we don’t get our pitchforks.

It's not going to just be the president if Trump wins. You need to read about Project 2025. It's a very well-thought-out plan for a complete right wing takeover of the entirety of the U.S. government.

9

No point in stressing over it. Whatever happens this country will just continue to circle the drain.

0

That sounds like quite the position of privilege you're coming from.

I'm stressing over it because I don't want my daughter or any other queer people put in "conversion" camps. And then we move on to all the brown people that will also be put in concentration camps...

-1
- Are you me? We moved from the deep South, in large part, because our daughter is queer and things got so nutty.
  
  3
- I'm voting for Kamala but it's not like her victory will remove that threat to queer people and minorities. All the people that want to harm them will still be here gearing up for the next election and blocking anything positive from happening. It will never end.
  
  2

In a way it'll be more stressful if Kamala wins. That would mean prosecuting, repairing, fixing, bolstering. Staying in it.

If Trump wins, it's all over and suddenly we have nothing to worry about anymore. It's done.

0

I have to worry about getting my kid out of the country if Trump wins. And she'll never see her grandmothers again.

3
What you just said is a little bit like how fascism wins— when you give up and give in by default.

Look, you wanna do that, don’t fuckin’ stand near me : they’ll have you turning me & my queer friends & family in to get “deported”, & you’ll be whining how difficult you’ve got it.

2