What a difference eight weeks make!
When I penned a column in early June about feeling like the electorate was trapped in the Situation Room, I had no idea what mid-August would bring.
Sure, I left messages for Senator Markey and Senator Warren politely asking them to exert their influence on President Biden. When he concluded last month that he would be “one and done,” I praised the Lord Almighty.
About 10 days prior to Biden’s consequential decision to leave the 2024 race, while en route to the Berkshires, I was furiously responding to a bunch of political text messages as well.
In order, they asked:
- “Will you vote for Joe Biden?” (07/09) (“No,” I replied.)
- “Would you accept Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee?” (07/12) (“Of course,” I said and sent $100 to Act Blue in her name.)
- “Reports are coming in: Pres. Biden is considering dropping out. If that happens, who do you want to run?” (07/19) (“KAMALA,” I all-capped.)
At the post-film Q&A after “Invisible Nation,” a documentary about Taiwan’s first female President Tsai Ing-Wen, I asked the audience if they felt they would see a female president in the U.S. in their lifetime. Slightly more than half raised their hand. Mind you, this was still the first week of July.
Importantly, Tsai Ing-Wen held office from 2016 to earlier this year. Given she presided over a small island nation under constant threat from mainland China, she saved democracy there for eight years straight.
South of the border, Mexico also recently elected its first female president: Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo will assume office on October 1.
Meanwhile, hell hath no fury like 169 million women who vote in the United States. November 5 is coming to a ballot box, a post office, and a polling location near you. Not only is Kamala Harris on a mission, she is also on fire. Democracy is not going anywhere.
Of course, the irony of Democrats’ fire and fury is totally lost on the Republican ticket. Who knows if they will ever figure it out. Meanwhile, Woman on the Verge looks forward to enjoying this movie tomorrow night, with and without irony:
“Coup!” is playing at the Spectrum 8 in Albany.
