Here we are, a week from election day. It probably crossed the mind of each of the Presidential candidates they could lose. Both are probably asking themselves, how could I lose to this guy? That each candidate is highly flawed is no secret. Readers of this blog know I have not been Donald Trump’s biggest fan. Some of his policies, such as trade and immigration, I find self-defeating. Trump is a man unable to play well with others, even when it’s to his benefit. He has made enemies of many who might’ve helped widen his appeal. He speaks endlessly when it would profit him to let others do the talking. This was surely true of his COVID-19 updates.

Yet, much to my surprise, he has delivered on most of his campaign promises. A Mitt Romney would’ve been proud of the record of cutting taxes, reigning in regulations, filling the courts with originalist judges, and rebuilding our military. On policy and results, he’s a pretty good Republican.

If it weren’t for the Corona-virus, Trump would’ve been a solid bet for re-election. As I’ve noted, Trump’s actions on the virus have been uneven. Still, in less than a year, we may have a vaccine. With better methods and therapeutics, deaths have been stabilized even in the face of rising case levels. The new treatments have been put into practice in record time. Trump has joined most of the rest of the world in realizing lockdowns aren’t the answer. When we look at Trump’s performance, we again have to ask, compared to what?

There isn’t anything showing Joe Biden would’ve done any better on the virus than Trump. Most of what he has proposed, Trump is already doing. Biden’s top expert, Ezekiel Emanuel, isn’t on record with a different program. One could speculate, Biden would’ve followed the Blue State governors with hard and longer lockdowns. The problem with this is that New York and New Jersey have way more deaths than the Red States with larger and older populations.

The permanent medical bureaucracy such as CDC and the FDA would still have screwed up our response if there was a different President. The testing foul-up alone put us in a hole we have yet to emerge. In fact, Biden has made it clear he would defer to these “experts” and their “science.” The real difference Trump was in office and Biden wasn’t. The media, overwhelmingly in the tank for the Democrats, blames the President. This has led to a big Biden lead on the poll question on who would better handle the pandemic.

The actual result of a Biden win might well be a prolonging of our COVID-19 misery. Already the Governors of New York and California say they would have to hold their own vaccine oversight before it could be approved in their states. The other Blue States may join them. This can’t help but delay the Herd Immunity needed to get us out of the pandemic. Why would the Democrats want to delay the vaccine? Democrats promote a “Dark Winter,” and only a Biden administration gains control over the virus.

If we have the vaccine in January and simultaneously, the death rate is falling because of the wider use of ant-bodies treatment like President Trump received so successfully what would Biden get credit for?. Maybe cases are falling because of some form of natural Herd Immunity. All this while the Blue States are staying in or imposing more severe lockdowns.

Even if Biden wins, there could be major buyers remorse. Hence the move to prolong our pain. According to Dr. Marty Makary of Johns Hopkin,s the FDA put an additional 8-week delay on vaccines for purely political reasons. It was simply to deny Trump a boost. Many other doctors concur. The permanent medical bureaucracy so loved by Biden strikes again. Reuters reported today, “Staff at a major London hospital trust have been told to be ready to receive the first batches of the vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc.” That’s right, next week Brits might start getting the vaccine. A two or three month delay here on the very same vaccine will cause more illness and cost lives unnecessarily. That’s just not right.

Of course, the polls may be wrong again. Trump wins, and the Republicans retain the Senate. The meltdown of the Democrat Elites and their media allies would be monumental. How could this come about? It could be shyness in dealing with pollsters. Not only white Trump supporters but the big possible surprise, minority Trump supporters avoiding the pollsters.

I sense a push back among minorities for being taken for granted. A majority of blacks want more police, not less. They favor school choice. Some acknowledge Trump actually did stuff for them. They may not want to talk it up, but Biden isn’t exactly inspiring them. He just tells them they’re not Black if they don’t vote for him. The fact minorities did better under Trump before the pandemic may not be lost on them. They might want a repeat coming out of it.

It wouldn’t take a big minority move to change the election. Even a 5-10% move could change the outcome. Just as the elites misjudged blue-collar whites in 2016, they might misjudge minorities. They’re the ones taking the brunt of the epidemic, delivering stuff to the stay at home elites. Some may decide they have more in common with workaday whites than elites who take them for granted.

One group sure to lose no matter how the election turns out is the “Never Trumpers.” It mystifies me what these people think they’re accomplishing. If Trump wins, they remain in the wilderness. If Biden wins, they’ve served their purpose and will lose their liberal support. Most of them either work for liberal media or rely on liberal financial support. Echoing tried and true progressives have made them redundant.

Jonah Goldberg, the Editor in Chief of the Dispatch, wrote an article that almost followed the liberal narrative on the Emails from Hunter Bidens’s laptop line by line. The Biden camp has never denied their validity of the hard drive or the emails on it. No denial of Hunter Biden partner Tony Boulinski’s documents and statements. Jonah casts desperation on all of it. There is an army of progressives in media ignoring the obvious. Who needs a Goldberg copying them?

Probably the strangest tact by a Never Trumper is the one taken by longtime Wall Street Journal Columnist Peggy Noonan. After looking forward to a Biden landslide bringing us back to “Normal,” she is hoping for the Republicans retaining the Senate. She claims this would help Joe rein in the progressives. She has been around much too long to believe her hoped-for Biden landslide would spare the Republican Senate Majority. More likely, it’s just Noonan signaling she doesn’t dislike all Republicans, just Trump, and his supporters. As a “conservative,” she doesn’t want the whole progressive agenda enacted, just some of it. This just isn’t coherent.

As I’ve pointed out before, Biden is an arch-typical weather-vane politician. He’ll point whichever way the wind is blowing. His entire 47 years of public service is devoid of any strongly held convictions. This is the bulwark that’s going to hold back the progressive agenda? In any case, Biden might not be in the top spot for long. The man will be a none too robust 78 on Inauguration Day. By hiding in his basement for much of the campaign, he has avoided the coronavirus, but can a President hideout? Waiting in the wings to takeover is the most progressive person in the U.S. Senate.

I suppose the Never Trumpers believe in the event of a rejection of Trump at the ballot-box, they will be welcomed back into the Republican halls of power. They will be the ones to point the party in the proper direction. What Republicans running for office will want their support? A favorable mention by the likes of Max Boot, Jennifer Rubin, or Ross Douthat would be the kiss of death. No Republican politician can afford to be associated with this bunch. The party base will tolerate those having some disagreements but still supporting the party on balance. There is no place for turncoats.

Sadly, serving no purpose, the Never Trumpers will just disappear. Sadder still, no one will notice.