Nate Feltman: I am yearning for a presidential landslide

The long national nightmare is almost over. Or for many, it’s just beginning. Of course, I’m talking about the presidential election, which hopefully will be decided next week.

Americans cannot escape the vitriol of politics today. Presidential elections now last the better part of two years, and the money raised and spent by the presidential candidates is staggering. Vice President Kamala Harris recently eclipsed the $1 billion mark and President Trump has raised $800 million.

Unlike most other democracies, America does not have campaign finance limits. The Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission in 2010 prohibited campaign spending limits in the name of freedom of speech under the First Amendment. Super political-action committees (called Super PACs) now raise billions for federal candidates. In this election cycle, super PACs will raise $6 billion for federal candidates, and total spending for federal candidates is expected to be a record-setting $16 billion.

We are told by the political pundits that this election is within the margin of error and the election will be decided by seven swing states. I hope whoever wins, it’s not that close and the winner is known no later than the day after the election. How about a good old-fashioned landslide in which the winner wins the popular vote and the electoral college by a significant margin and we know the outcome late in the evening on Nov. 5, Election Day. I yearn for the day when Americans sent a clear message, like in 1984 when Ronald Reagan won every state other than Walter Mondale’s home state of Minnesota and the District of Columbia.

I know a landslide is unlikely given our evenly divided country, so I’ll take a decisive swing-state landslide. If one of the candidates can sweep Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, that would be considered a decisive electoral college victory as one could hope for in today’s divided America.

The last thing America needs is a repeat of the 2000 presidential election in which the winner was not known until five weeks after Election Day. That election was ultimately decided by another 5-4 Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore, in which the court ruled in favor of George W. Bush and ended the Florida recounts. The Supreme Court’s reputation has taken enough hits of late. Adding another presidential election decision to its docket would not bode well for this important institution.

Speaking of old-fashioned, I definitely fall into that category when it comes to voting. I consider voting a civic duty. Civic engagement is in decline in America, leading to low voter participation rates, especially in Indiana. I adhere to the philosophy that if you don’t participate in American democracy by voting, then don’t complain if it doesn’t go the way you hoped.

I certainly can empathize with my friends who say, “I can’t vote for either one of these candidates. Vice President Kamala Harris tells us she wouldn’t do anything different than President Joe Biden, and President Donald Trump won’t concede that he lost the last election.” True, but this is our choice. One of them will be our next president, so pick the candidate that you think will do the least harm to America.

Closer to home, there are many important races, including governor, attorney general and Indiana General Assembly. Many Americans have already voted. Next Tuesday is your last chance to register your vote. Make the time to participate in this important American tradition.•

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Feltman is publisher of IBJ and CEO of IBJ Media. Send comments to nfeltman@ibj.com.