Just Some Election Thoughts…

2020-11-06 (said on 2020-11-05 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded 1 day later) · letter vlog · Hank · 3:22 · watch on YouTube

Topic: US politics & society · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook

Two days after the 2020 US election, before a winner is called, Hank says the result is not the clean verdict on Trumpism he expected: a likely Biden win is a lifeboat, not a repudiation; he explains right-wing populism as the belief that some people are not 'real Americans' and says that belief is not going away.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Hank paused a new writing project until the election showed which of two worlds the country chose

★★ A few weeks after his second book came out Hank started a new project, then stopped, feeling he could not write it until after the election because the world would differ so much depending on the result. — 00:00:00 · A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, United States presidential election

00:00:29 — No clean verdict: false dichotomies, a lifeboat, a contested result, a decades-old rift, Florida turning red

★★ Hank expected the country either to roundly denounce Trumpism or to accept it as the right way, two worlds very different from each other, and has realised the outcome is neither. — 00:00:29 · Donald Trump
★★ Hank repeats his saying that all dichotomies are false dichotomies (even that one), and says the country may have found a middle path. (hedged) — 00:00:29

“all dichotomies are false dichotomies, even that one”
★★★ Hank says he is not claiming the election doesn't matter: it matters tremendously in many ways for many people. — 00:00:29 · United States presidential election
★★ If the result goes the way Hank expects, it is a bit of a lifeboat, but not a collective agreement that this was the right thing to do. (hedged) — 00:00:58
★★ Hank thinks that if Biden is ultimately elected, many people will see it as a failure of Trumpism. (hedged) — 00:00:58 · Donald Trump
★★★ Hank says the result is close enough that Trump can falsely claim the election was stolen from him, and many of his supporters will completely lose faith in the American system. — 00:00:58 · Donald Trump, United States
★★★ Hank says the rift, crafted over decades and deeper than many of its crafters hoped, was never going to be filled in one election; his hope that it would was faulty. — 00:01:27
★★ On the evening of November 3, 2020, as Florida turned red, it made sense to Hank for the first time that Trump is president; for four years it had seemed surreal to him. — 00:01:27 · Florida, Donald Trump, United States

00:02:01 — Right-wing populism as the belief that some people are not real Americans; elections express values

★★★ Hank says the US has a right-wing populist president because many believe people who are not 'real Americans' make their lives worse, a label drawn culturally, racially, by politicized oversimplification or by loyalty to Trump. — 00:02:01 · othering, Donald Trump, United States
★★ Hank says individuals and the nation are constantly creating and expressing their values, and elections highlight that, sometimes hopefully, sometimes distressingly. — 00:02:31

00:03:00 — It was never going away; the mirror held up; thanks to everyone who took part

★★★ The one take Hank has held for more than 30 minutes: this was never going away, not even had Texas flipped; he is glad the mirror was held up, and the work goes on. — 00:03:00
★★ Hank thanks everybody who took part in the political process this time: it doesn't always feel great, but it is vital. — 00:03:00 · United States presidential election

In the description and comments

★★ The description, written after recording, says Joe Biden is almost certain to be the next president of the United States. (hedged) — video description · United States
★★ The description apologises that the video is more somber and less hopeful than it should be, because Montana's elections did not go well. — video description · Montana
★★ The description says a Biden/Harris presidency is vital and hard fought and will make the world very different, and Hank is grateful to everyone who took part. — video description

Threads in this video

restate · Does it matter which party governs? — Hank says he is not claiming the election doesn't matter: it matters tremendously in many ways for many people. (00:00:29)
predicted · Hank: Joe Biden will be the next US president (2020) — The description, written after recording, says Joe Biden is almost certain to be the next president of the United States. (video description)
repeated · Hank: the 2020 US election will be interpreted as a judgment on the last four years (2020) — Hank thinks that if Biden is ultimately elected, many people will see it as a failure of Trumpism. (00:00:58)
predicted · Hank: Trump will falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen and many of his supporters will lose faith in the American system (2020) — Hank says the result is close enough that Trump can falsely claim the election was stolen from him, and many of his supporters will completely lose faith in the American system. (00:00:58)
restate · Can election results be trusted? — Hank says the result is close enough that Trump can falsely claim the election was stolen from him, and many of his supporters will completely lose faith in the American system. (00:00:58)
repeated · Hank: the 2020 US election will not end the pandemic, injustice, conspiracy theories or hyper-partisanship (2020) — Hank says the rift, crafted over decades and deeper than many of its crafters hoped, was never going to be filled in one election; his hope that it would was faulty. (00:01:27)
restate · Is there really an 'us' and a 'them', or are distant and different people just facets of us? — Hank says the US has a right-wing populist president because many believe people who are not 'real Americans' make their lives worse, a label drawn culturally, racially, by politicized oversimplification or by loyalty to Trump. (00:02:01)
thanks · Hank asks viewers to vote right now in the 2020 US election or make a plan to vote by November 3 (2020) — Hank thanks everybody who took part in the political process this time: it doesn't always feel great, but it is vital. (00:03:00)
restate · Is democracy in danger? — Hank says the result is close enough that Trump can falsely claim the election was stolen from him, and many of his supporters will completely lose faith in the American system. (00:00:58)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Hank: Joe Biden will be the next US president (2020) — its date passed (2021); no outcome reported; last: repeated, 2021-01-08
Hank: Trump will falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen and many of his supporters will lose faith in the American system (2020) — unresolved; last: predicted, 2020-11-06 (said on 2020-11-05, implied)

Mentioned

Central: Donald Trump · othering · populism · Trumpism · United States presidential election

Also: People: Joe Biden

Works: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor

Concepts: electoral fraud · false dilemma · political polarization · racism · reality television

Places: Florida · Texas · United States

Only in the description or credits: Kamala Harris · Montana

Also centred on populism: Populism, Media Revolutions, and Our Terrible Moment · My Big 2026 Prediction is...Not Fun

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