Next Monday will be the day before the election. I generally don't like writing about election-related issues so close the actual Election Day, so I figured I'd better clear my mind this week.
Early voting started a week ago and continues through the end of business on Nov. 7, one week from today. I haven't cast a ballot yet, and the Supreme Court of Arkansas confirmed one of my reasons in its decision Thursday to toss one of the medical marijuana proposals, Issue 7, off the ballot.
This didn't sit well with some people. After all, more than 144,000 Arkansans had already cast their ballots by the time the court got around to invalidating Issue 7. Some voters may have wanted a re-do, but that's the risk of voting early.
I love that early voting -- and its spread to multiple locations in many counties -- has expanded convenience for voters. Despite the gnashing of teeth we hear from the University of Arkansas campus about a need for a dedicated voting location, it has never been easier for the students, faculty, staff or their fellow citizens to cast a ballot. Indeed, people have to look hard, really hard, for a reason in Washington County to suggest there's any barrier to their franchise.
But early voting's convenience also has a fatal flaw: It's early. And it's not just affected by court decisions. In any election, last-minute revelations can impact the way a voter processes his decisions. Politico, in an Oct. 4 article, detailed 15 "October surprises" in history that swayed some voters. For example, revelation in October 2000 of George W. Bush's arrest for driving under the influence 24 years earlier. For some, 24 years is enough of a lapse that it didn't matter, but "Bush strategist Karl Rove wrote that he believes the scandal cost Bush five states. Though many would question that math--and it's difficult to argue with a counter-factual--Rove believes that without the DUI news, Bush would have won the popular vote and the mess in Florida would have been avoided."
Rest assured, Democratic and Republican strategists and investigators are hard at work trying to find -- or trying to time the release of -- damaging material. And, of course, with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as this year's nominees, either one of them could provide self-destructive behavior or material in the waning days of the election.
As much as election officials press early voting in a wise effort to smooth the election process on Election Day, I'm not convinced casting a ballot two weeks out is the best decision. Perhaps some people are 100 percent convinced there is no revelation on any ballot decision that could influence their choices.
But the course of human events are not always so predictable. That's why they're called surprises.
It was an intriguing story in last Monday's newspaper: "Migrants stump for Clinton, say future in U.S. at stake."
The story came from northern Virginia, where a group of undocumented migrants -- people not legally in this country until President Obama granted them temporary legal status in 2012 -- were knocking door to door in support of Hillary Clinton and other Democratic candidates. The story said they are convinced the outcome of the election will determine whether they can secure a path to citizenship.
Haven't the Democrats been decrying the harm that could come from people who are not U.S. citizens trying to sway this nation's election? Clinton tells us Vladimir Putin, most definitely not a U.S. citizen, and Julian Assange are unfairly trying to influence the nation's voting.
But it's OK to temporarily legalize people who are in the nation illegally then organize them into door-knocking campaigns trying to get Hillary Clinton elected?
Donald Trump keeps talking. That in and of itself could produce an October surprise. It's amazing to me that a successful man and the nominee of the Republican Party cannot string together two sentences that stay on a trajectory of building a cohesive point.
And he keeps saying the election is rigged. How can he possibly serve as president if such a rigged system produces a victory for him?
Every election has its hiccups, but I'm convinced our elections are as clean as humans can possibly make them. And Trump knows it, too, but he's demonstrated that he cannot "man up" and take responsibility for any shortcoming or failure. He views even his failures, such as company bankruptcies, as evidence of his crafty business acumen.
Personally, I think Trump will lose on Nov. 8, in a presidential race that practically any other Republican candidate could have taken easily.
Bask in what you've created, Republicans. I'm going to take comfort wherever I can find it: I voted for Kasich.
Commentary on 10/31/2016