I’d like to share some observations and predictions about the election here today. Before you take any of my predictions too seriously, remember that I stated with full confidence that the GOP would never nominate Trump in 2016, and once they did, I stated here that Trump had absolutely no chance of becoming president. My previous failures at prognostication do not prevent me from engaging again in prognostication.
1. Everyone says this as established truth, but our actions and words sometimes ignore it – whoever wins tonight, God is still on the throne. All of those “the future of the church hangs in the balance” and other apocalyptic statements that many made were simply false. The church was founded on the work of Christ and it will go forward on Christ. You know it. I know it. We need to remember it – even if our voting desires go awry.
2. Our Christian brothers and sisters matter more than our political parties. I was around during the Conservative Resurgence and I saw the division it brought. Though I disagreed at times with how that conflict was conducted (and yes, I disagreed at the time, not just with the perspective of time), I supported the cause itself. The current divisiveness, pushed by some extremists, the CBN, and some powerful SBC power elites, threatens the future of the SBC for ungodly reasons. We should NOT divide over politics. People should not be anathematized for voting for Donald Trump and they should not be anathematized for NOT voting for him.
3. America is a broken nation. America’s political system is badly broken. Our two primary political parties are broken. There is no solution for America in the Democratic party and there is no solution for America in the GOP. That is not to say that there is no difference in the platforms of the parties, but they are both ungodly systems seeking power at any cost. They lie and they deal and then they lie.
4. American Christians will have a chance to show their godly character if Trump loses. We have heard people trumpeting the truths that “we should support and pray for our president.” What if Biden wins? Will they continue to support and pray for the president? Will their convictions continue? We will show if we are driven by character and conviction, or by partisan considerations. I have my fears on this one.
5. Now, some predictions. I think Joe Biden will assume the presidency in 2021. It will be without my vote.
6. It Trump wins, the polling system in America needs to disband. The results of the last election were on the edge of the margin of error. Biden is ahead by about 10 points in most polls. Are those polls wrong? There is no chance for a Trump victory this time without the polls being completely skewed. If Trump wins, questions about whether the polls were political tools will abound.
7. Trump supporters in specific, and GOPers and conservatives, in general, should give thanks for the genius of the electoral college devised by the founding fathers. In the last election (based on my memory), Hillary won California and New York by about 8 million votes. The rest of the country went to Trump by nearly 4 million votes. In other words, if we elected the president based solely on the nationwide majority, there’d be no point in anyone outside of those two states going to the polls.
8. This election could be a mess rivaling or even surpassing 2000 and its hanging chads.
- There have been record-setting early voting and mail-in ballots. These will be counted and that counted may take time.
- Both candidates have said that if they lose, it will only be because of campaign shenanigans. Both candidates have said that only cheating can prevent them from winning. Expect legal challenges.
- Accusations about Russia, about intimidation, about voter fraud – it will get ugly.
- There are already a ton of legal challenges happening in localities across the nation.
- Counting will likely continue for days.
9. It may be that the outcome of Senate races matter as much or more than the outcome of the battle for the top office. There are several scenarios.
- If Democrats win the presidency and the Senate, holding on to the House, the nation will take a hard left turn. We would not like the next two years. If Democrats overplay their hand, the 2022 congressional elections could be a corrective.
- If Biden wins, but Republicans hold the Senate, we are in for 2 years of gridlock (personally, I’ve never minded that). Little will get done. The 2022 election gets interesting.
- If Trump wins and Republicans hold the Senate, gridlock still reigns. Of course, the judiciary will continue to turn to the right, so most of us will rejoice in that.
10. Who would have thought, a year ago, that the primary issue in this election would be a pandemic? With the economy rolling, this election would have been a very different thing if the coronavirus had never hit our shores.
11. I do not see either side accepting a loss very well. Even Christians have come to see grace and dignity as weakness. There will be vituperation and derogation. Violence is a possibility. Before conservatives say that only the left engages in violence, check out the story about the “Trump train” surrounding the Biden bus and forcing the Biden campaign to cancel a campaign stop. Having said that, a surprise Trump victory likely ignites a storm.
12. I live in Iowa, a battleground state, and the “first in the nation” caucus state. Here is one bit of good news – the obnoxious political ads, political tweets, and political assaults should take a short break.
I can’t wait.
13.This is the twelfth presidential election I’ve voted in, and I believe it is the twelfth straight that has been breathlessly called “the most important of our lifetime” on which the future of America hung. We really need to stop with the hyperbole.
Now, to go vote and find “God’s man” “for such a time as this.”
