Lawsuits, Polling, and Preparing for Election Day

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Topics Discussed:

  • Hurricane Zeta

  • Amy Coney Barrett Confirmation

  • SCOTUS Decisions on Elections and Voting

  • Polls and Predictions

  • Covid-19 Update

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Episode Resources

Transcript

Sarah: [00:00:00] Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Pantsuit Politics. This is our last Friday episode before election day, and we have an exciting announcement. We will be on hot mic election night from 8:00 PM to 10:00 PM. Eastern standard time. You just download the hot mic app. It's free. Use the code PANTSUIT.

You'll find our event. It's going to be great. BYOB, put on your comfy clothes, we're gonna watch the beginning of the results roll in. Listen, I'm feeling real hopeful. I think we might know that night  I'm just gonna put that out there, but if we don't we'll get through it together, but please join us on hot mic election night.

It's going to be really, really fun. I think,

Beth: [00:00:49] I think its fun that you think we're going to know the results that night. I do not think were gonna know the results that night, but I hope you are correct. Before we dive in to talking about the election and about what's going on with the Supreme court related to the election and COVID and all the things, we went to send so much love to our listeners and friends in Louisiana and Mississippi, and everyone affected by hurricane Zeta.

I heard from Emily, one of our executive producers this morning, who does not expect to have power for a couple of weeks now. And I thought, in the midst of a COVID surge in the midst of this election, a hurricane comes along right now, around Halloween. And as we're going into the holiday season, I'm sorry. Universe that's cruel and unusual. We earthlings are going to need a minute, but lots and lots of love to all of  you dealing with the aftermath of that hurricane. 

Sarah: [00:01:40] The strongest hurricane this late in the season and something like a hundred years, you know, it's not that they're just coming more frequent, but that they're stronger.

And so the people of Mississippi and Louisiana, they're not even just getting a break before they're handling another storm and another storm and another storm. So. Definitely. Yes. We keep them in our thoughts.

Beth: [00:01:58] We have a new Supreme court  justice.

That's it. Maybe a good place to stop just with your sound. There. Just, we'll all just sit with that for a second. It's kind of, it's like that Supreme court version of Elm at this point. 

Sarah: [00:02:12] That's how it feel. That's how I feel. And if I didn't feel that way, I sure as heck felt that way after this shadow docket of election cases.

But we do, we have a new Supreme court judge, Amy Coney Barrett.

Okay. I have a couple, I have a couple of questions for you first. How do you respond to this, this idea that we should celebrate another woman on the court? No matter the woman's judicial philosophy. 

Beth: [00:02:41] I do celebrate another woman on the court. I do not celebrate that woman being appointed at this time by this president.

Remember when Brett Kavanaugh lost his mind during his confirmation hearing that seared in my brain 

Sarah: [00:02:56] I've attempted to block it. But yes, 

Beth: [00:02:58] at that moment, I thought, you know, regardless of the allegations against him, this behavior to me indicates a problem. And I problem with judgment and judges are there for their judgment.

And I feel that way about these super spreader events related to her nomination and confirmation. I just think that there's a judgment issue and I was really trying to be open-minded about her decision to accept the nomination at the beginning. But when I think about two events in a row in the midst of COVID that exposed people to unnecessary risk, I just really struggle with that.

And I also don't appreciate the idea that we celebrate a greater diversity on the Supreme court, which we need desperately. Used as sort of a punching bag against those of us who have a problem with how this process has unfolded. So I mean, sure. Yes. I'm happy that it's a woman. I'm happy that it's a person with a law degree.

I'm happy as a person who has some experience. In the legal profession, he could have gone a lot of directions here and who knows what he would've gotten away with given how Craven Mitch McConnell has been about this entire process. Uh, and no, I'm still not happy about it. And honestly it hit me a lot harder than I expected it to.

I didn't watch the confirmation hearing for her. I did not watch the vote roll in. Because I just knew what the result was going to be really didn't care too much. Whether Susan Collins voted for her or against her at this point. And then when it just happened and it just was a fact of the universe, I felt really sad in a way that I struggle to put words around.

And part of that is because I spend so much time reading Supreme court cases. Uh, but just thinking about the fact that I seriously doubt Donald Trump has ever read. An opinion of the United States Supreme court. And he has now nominated one third of the justices sitting there. It just, I just find it heartbreaking.

I really do. 

Sarah: [00:05:15] I agree with you. My heartbreak with the Supreme court started much earlier than yours. And as a result, I've really disconnected from the institution. It's probably why I can't. Read the cases, the way that you do or find joy at all and reading the cases the way that you do. I just, I think it's a broken institution and I have so little investment in it anymore beyond reforming it.

That's what I feel passionately about. And you know, I'm happy. There's another woman on the Supreme court always, but she represents the opposite. Of diversity in many other ways. And recently a listener sent us an episode of deep background with Noah Feldman, where he interviewed judge Sutton for a series on the deep bench about originalism and textualism and judicial restraint.

And it helped clarify that. What bothers me about that approach and what bothers me about where we are with the Supreme court is that. It becomes so much about the partisanship of the individual judge, which is new. You know, you forget that, um, Brown V board of education was written by a Republican appointee.

Roe V. Wade was written by a Republican appointee. You had appointees from Republican presidents that would become liberal votes and. The influence of the Federalist society and the work of Antonin Scalia in really asserting this idea that it's all about the individual justices and basically their politics.

I don't care. You truly, you can dress it up as judicial restraint all day long and wax poetic about how you're trying to say. Neutral, but I do not believe neutrality is a thing for human beings to accomplish whether they work on the Supreme court or in the media. I just think that is a myth we tell ourselves and it is foolish.

And so I realized when I think about the court and what I think about I, a flourishing court and a court that I could feel invested in, again, it's really a court that sees itself. As a body where the members deliberate and work on each other, instead of just tiny version of Congress where we're just in deadlock, because our partisanship is incompatible.

And so I think I'm just really disconnected from the institution. And until the conversation becomes more about how to reform the Supreme court and less about the partisan politics of the justices themselves, I'm continued to feel disconnected. 

Beth: [00:07:49] Well, it doesn't connect you more to watch the election cases unfolding in the court.

Sarah: [00:07:55] Yeah. And I help him 

Beth: [00:07:55] what I want to be sure to spend a minute on is where you all are seeing headlines that are inconsistent because the way that election cases get reported on is also really confusing and a lot more goes into the reporting sometimes then we know from the decisions. And so it feels like a mess.

On the whole, I think what you can know about the court as it stands today, and justice Barrett has not yet participated as of the time we're recording, which definitely could change between now and when you hear this podcast. But as of the time that we are recording justice, Barrett has not yet participated in one of the election cases because she has not had time to be fully briefed on them.

On the whole. The theme is a majority of the court. And who that majority consists of. Depends on the case, believes that the constitution very clearly gives the authority to regulate elections, to state legislatures, and we prioritize what is in state law, over everything else. And. At least three justices in almost every case think that any attempt to change what is in state law based on COVID violates the federal constitution, regardless of whether a state court says that its own constitution allows it.

They think that if election officials or a judge extend the deadline for counting absentee ballots, for example, That is a federal constitutional problem because the federal constitution says that state legislatures determined how elections are conducted. And then depending on the case, justice Kavanaugh tends to feel that we don't change what is in state law under almost any circumstance and justice.

Roberts has more deference to state courts interpreting state laws and state constitutions, but not. Unbelievable difference. Do you think that's a fair summary, Sarah, of where we are? 

Sarah: [00:10:01] Yeah, I think that's fair. I think it's stupid, but I think it's fair. 

Beth: [00:10:06] Well, I do try to be fair. 

Sarah: [00:10:09] I think the idea that the most important thing and the top priority in a national emergency.

Let's not dress this up any way else than what it is. It's a national emergency affecting the functioning of almost every institution in our country that our founding fathers priority would be on the rules for how to run an election. Instead of an actual functioning election is just about the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

Beth: [00:10:42] I really appreciate justice. Kagan's. Pinion one of these cases I cannot remember right now, which one, but she said that in talking about these rules, the themes are will an election has to end sometime. Yeah, of course it does. There does have to be an end point, but no court has suggested otherwise. And we don't want to risk confusing voters or discouraging voters from participating in the process or overturning the results of an election.

And she says there are no results to overturn until all of the duly cast ballots have been counted. So we're starting from a framework that prioritizes votes ballots cast in person over mail in ballots. And that's the wrong framework. And how does it confuse people to tell them we're going to do our best to count every vote.

And how does it discourage people from participating to say, we're going to do our best to count every vote. And I think she's right about those things. 

Sarah: [00:11:44] Well, and to me, the narrative is we really prioritize judicial restraint. We really want to make sure that we. Don't interfere and we let the state legislator rule more than we care about getting every vote counted.

We care about the rules around elections, more than. The elections themselves. We may, we care more about maintaining our institutional integrity, which, you know, Brett Kavanaugh implying that absentee ballots flipped the result. And also just incorrectly categorizing Vermont's election law. To the point where they asked for a correction let's do in wonders for your institutional reputation.

Let me tell ya, in the meantime saying, well, if we get 80,000 votes in Wisconsin after election day, like they did in the primary, we throw those out. We don't count those. We don't count votes because the rules around how we count, vote, and never touching them and never messing with them and having all this judicial restraint is way more important than solving the actual problem and helping our institutions solve the actual problem of how to count the votes in the midst of a national emergency.

Beth: [00:13:03] And in a way, I think all of this is about individuals versus systems. Like everything else we've been discussing for the past six months or so, because the flavor in the concurring opinions in the cases is the state has made it so easy to vote. You can vote early, you can vote in the mail, you can drop your ballot off in one of these Dropbox.

Those are, you could put it in the post office boxes. There are so many possibilities you can still show up on election day and vote. And that entire lens ignores. I mean, the case that really. Unnerved me more than any other is the curbside voting case from Alabama, where the Supreme court prevented counties in Alabama that wanted to, and were prepared to have curbside voting for people with disabilities.

From doing that when we have the department of justice of the United States government, recognizing that often curbside voting is the best way to deal with violations of the Americans with disabilities act. When we have the CDC recommending curbside voting, this is not a novel untested, bizarre idea, but the Supreme court is just saying there are all these other ways to vote.

Just vote. One is other ways without thinking about the very real circumstances, many people find themselves in as they waive a decision of whether to vote or not in a place that could expose them to COVID-19. 

Sarah: [00:14:26] Isn't that the true privilege? The lack of logic is that in our neutrality, see we're neutral right?

In our neutrality, we can assess every single person's individual barriers to voting. How absurd, how absurd is that. And they want so deeply to wax poetic about elected officials and their, what do you have elected officials assessing the needs of their community? Finding a solution and these nine unelected people saying, Oh no, in our neutrality, we really can assess what the best thing is to do here.

The exact opposite of what they profess is their philosophy. 

Beth: [00:15:12] I think that's right. And that's, again, why I would make a strong case to expand the court because how do you have legitimate decisions being rendered around the Americans with disabilities act without a disabled person on the court? How do you have.

Decisions about religious Liberty being made that are going to be legitimate for a country of 300 million people without an atheist judge on the court. I mean, I just think if the court is to have any legitimacy going forward, it must represent a bigger swath of Americans. And then maybe you have decisions.

That'll probably be messier. You know, there'll probably be lots and lots of different perspectives in those decisions, but at least the final vote, we can have some assurance that someone did think about me when this was happening.

Sarah: [00:16:12] Well, the most infuriating part about listening to judge Sutton. Talk about. Judicial restraint and, and originalism and textualism is instead of saying, well, we find your judicial approach lacking because it doesn't represent America. He says, Oh, well, because you can see, see it's it's objective. So you can look at the historical documents and there's a standard by which you can find this judicial approach.

So yeah, you can criticize it, but you have no form of her dress. You have no way to say you did this wrong. You can just write a paper about it and that's good enough. That's not good enough for me. And to me, that's what we're really facing here is we have to find a reform in which when we feel like the judicial approach is not serving the needs of the American people, then there is at least, you know, in many of the reforms built in a fluidity, right?

A fluidity of input so that it, that there is a constant churn either from the lower courts or due to term limits or something. So that if we say, Oh, this isn't working, then there's something we can do about it. Cause I don't really care if there's a standard by which I can judge your judicial philosophy.

If I have no redress. 

Beth: [00:17:31] So my overriding feeling about these cases is that it demonstrates a flaw in our constitution that needs to be rectified. We should have a fundamental right to vote in our constitution because that is how we conduct elections now. And it is the expectation of Americans and it is built into American identity and we don't have it.

We only have it if the States give it to us, which gives the state a lot of power to limit it. And I think we need to change that. And I think we need the kind of language that Pennsylvania has and its state constitution with a strong presumption in favor of enfranchisement that we interpret the rules with a strong presumption in favor of counting every vote that was cast by a registered voter.

And I just, that feels to me like. A very basic step forward that we can take in this area. 

Sarah: [00:18:25] Because I think when you, you stack up not just the Supreme court decisions with regards to these cases, but the strategy of filing these cases, particularly within the Trump campaign, what you see is a real. Desire to suppress the vote.

You have them saying in Pennsylvania. Well, we have to have a decision on election night. I mean, we have to wrap this up. We need to know as soon as, as the results are in on election night, who won. And then in the face of a record breaking turnout, you have them in Nevada arguing. Oh, well, listen, you can't start counting early.

No, of course not. You can't start counting the votes early because we don't have enough people there to watch and there's could be problems and you could be slipping in votes. So they want election officials to do the impossible to. Either don't allow early voting or to try to have everyone vote on election day in the face of record-breaking turnout and a pandemic and the closing of many, many, many polling locations.

And then they wanted all wrapped up with a neat little bow on election night. I mean, just when you put all these cases together through the eyes of the people, filing them, not just through the eyes of the Supreme court decisions, what you see is. A strategy to make it harder for people to vote, to make it harder for the election officials to count the votes, to make it harder, to allow any absentee ballots to come in and be voted.

Like it's just hard to look at this and not see their number one priority is to suppress the vote. 

Beth: [00:19:59] There was an interesting piece in Politico today about how suppressing the vote is the campaign strategy that there is a campaign within the Trump campaign to suppress the vote because the numbers don't work 

Sarah: [00:20:09] otherwise.

Yep. 

Beth: [00:20:12] And that's alarming. I just think wherever you fall on the political spectrum, that's alarming. 

Sarah: [00:20:19] Well, and maybe this is a, a good time to pivot too. The poles done, done, done. You know, I do feel hopeful about election night, despite this campaign within a campaign to suppress the vote. And part of it is because of what you just articulated that we know without a shadow of a doubt, we are in the midst of record-breaking turnout and the Trump campaign success in 2016.

Was absolutely in part based on low turnout, low enthusiasm on behalf of the Clinton campaign and still the margins were so thin. I heard somebody the other day. Describe it. As you know, he pulled three cards of the same type in 2016. He'd have to roll snake eyes on the next move in 2020 to win. I just think it's such a historical accident.

And I think the way the polls have not tightened the way they have been sustained the way that you have record-breaking turnout, just all of these pieces together, not to mention just the chaos that he spreads wherever he goes, including leaving these, these poor people in Nebraska, out in the cold and Omaha after his rally, like I just.

You know, I think that there's a space to always and forever be cautious, particularly with polls, but I also think there is space to say, this is very, very different. This is very. Different and we can't, it doesn't mean we don't vote. It doesn't mean we stay, we don't stay enthusiastic. But I also hate that people are just eaten up with anxiety because of 2016.

When the only thing the same this year is Donald Trump, but it wasn't just Trump that got Trump elected. It was a million other things. Foreign interference, social media, mass media, polling errors. Campaign airs on the other side, just all these things. And I think I just don't want people to get eaten up and feel like a surprise is coming no matter what, because I don't think that that is what the evidence shows.

Beth: [00:22:40] I have buckets of feelings about this. I both love your confidence and it makes my jaw tighten a little bit. Um, I continue to worry that there are people who will support the president privately, who have not publicly. I don't think it is the same as in 2016. And I don't count anything until it's done.

And I really would be shocked if we didn't have some waiting past election day for certainty about it. Pivotal States. The other thing that I'm struggling with is that I want the polling that is reassuring to be right. And I want the polling that's discouraging to be wrong. I really would like in congressional races to see some surprises from the polling as some big surprises.

Not only because I want some of my candidates who are down in the polls to win, but also because I want it to feel like our votes matter in congressional races, I've been so discouraged. And I've talked about this a million times because I really am stuck on it. I'm so discouraged by the power of incumbency in the Congress.

I'm so discouraged by the way, districting determines how, uh, the vote is just certain to go. You know, the fact that we have any solid D or solid our districts, regardless of who the candidates are really kind of depresses me. And so, um, I really want to have it both ways with the polls this year, too. 

Sarah: [00:24:13] See, I don't see much discouraging me in district wide polling.

Like I feel like the district wide Pauline, particularly in swing States still looks really, really good for Joe Biden. 

Beth: [00:24:25] But I mean, for the, uh, for the congressional races, 

Sarah: [00:24:28] no, I mean, yes, but I mean like the congressional district polling. How those candidates are doing. I think still looks really good for Joe Biden.

You know, in the same way that in 2016, there were red flags in Michigan and Wisconsin for Hillary Clinton. If you looked at that district level polling, I haven't encountered a polling. I have not encountered a polling result. I needed to talk myself out of every single thing I've read. Makes me feel just fine.

And this is for the person who doesn't love polling. And that's because I don't love polling, particularly in primaries. I don't love polling early in the process because I think it's of limited use. And I think it becomes a story, but at this point, so close to election day, polling is insightful and honestly less than the polls, it's the turnout that leaves me so incredibly encouraged.

And I. Watch y'all's incredible pictures pour in. And I think that what we're seeing is people just really ready to do something for their country. Like I think people almost like the lines. I think I even felt that a little bit, the sense of like, I get to sacrifice something for this place. I really love that.

I feel like needs it right now. And. To wait in line is the absolute least I could do. And I'm so happy and thrilled to do it. I'm very jealous that I didn't get to witness a lot of the first time voters and the applause, like so many of you did super jealous of those stories. They make my heart grow a couple of sizes, but I think there's this sense of like, it's not that the information makes me feel good, although it does.

It's the information props up the sense of. Being a part of something big, every, you know, I'm getting driven, um, on the Instagram and Instagram one. And just listening to all of you, watching the messages, watching the lines, it just feels like something is happening. It doesn't feel, it feels like a change.

It feels like we're moving dramatically in a new direction. Um, and I just can't. Shake that feeling. I can't talk myself out of it, even though I was confident in 2016 to a certain extent, more cause I was cherry picking poles that time, you know, I do. I just feel like it's something and even, you know, you've talked a lot about how giving.

Donations and the face of these record breaking fundraising halls. And we've got numbers. Now, this is going to be like a $14 billion election, which has bananas makes you feel disempowered. But even that makes me feel empowered. I don't, I love giving money. I love being one of those small dollar donors. I love knowing that this flood of money right into the Senate races, aren't coming from corporation.

That makes me feel empowered. That makes me again, feel like we're part of something. Different that something's changing. And I, you know, I just, I can't shake it. It feels, it feels so very different. Whereas I felt like last time, you know, I had so many people being like, Oh, I feel something, but it's not what you feel like, you know, when you think, I think back to how many people.

Like based on their conversations or just the sense of like their neighbors and what they were experiencing in their everyday life, or like, Oh no, I think you might win. And to me, those everyday experiences I'm having right now, And thanks in part to our audience, which I realize as a self selecting group feels so different.

Every person that's like, I talked to my parents, I talked to my dad, I talked to my mom, I kept working on him. I kept working on them and they're going to vote for Biden or they voted third party or whatever, but just leaves me feeling so encouraged. I feel like our roles are reversed because I feel like this was the last time.

Beth: [00:28:11] I was pretty Zen about it. Last time I shouldn't have been, but I was, and I think that's part of it. I don't want to be wrong again. I also just don't want to crash. And I was very emotional about voting this time in good ways and hard ones, uh, but much more say than I've ever felt. And so I know that I'm going to have a strong reaction to the results, whatever they are as well.

And I'm trying to prepare myself to be the kind of person that I want to be no matter what those results are. And I think that could be hard at, you know, thinking about four more years of Donald Trump is very hard. It hits me in a lot of different directions. And the biggest one I talked about in our pre election political therapy, the biggest one is a sense of resentment.

And I do not want to live in that. So I'm really just trying to keep myself. With my feet on the ground, prepared for whatever comes, knowing that whatever comes is not the end or the beginning of something completely transformative right away. I th I appreciate that Joe Biden is out talking, and this is a good transition to COVID-19.

I appreciate that. He's out telling people, Hey, If I win, we still got a lot of work to do, and it is still going to be very hard. Just getting the virus under control is going to be very hard. And I'm glad that he's setting those expectations because that is certainly my sense of things. 

Sarah: [00:29:35] So many of you have loved ones.

Who are perpetuating the idea that COVID-19 is just an invention for this election cycle. Obviously our own president is perpetuating the idea that COVID-19 is just about this election cycle, but I don't think that you can look at what is happening across the United States and you most certainly can not see what is happening in Europe right now without realizing.

That this is much bigger than the election that we are experiencing a really, really difficult third wave. Once that experts have been warning us was coming, um, due to the colder months, France has just issued a month long lockdown, Germany, closed restaurants and bars and gyms. Both countries have prioritized keeping schools open.

Which is nice. I would like to see more of that in the United States, but we are definitely in the midst of growing numbers where our hospital systems who now know how to treat COVID-19 are struggling under the lack of resources, lack of beds, lack of staff. And it's really getting incredibly dangerous.

And I think one of the most frustrating things I heard recently was dr. Fowchee say, well, We're going to be dealing with this longer because we've handled it so poorly. And I think I was telling myself like the timeline he was laying out for us that we'll, you know, get this vaccine at the end of the year.

And we'll be back on track by mid 20, 21 was staying no matter what. And I'm like, no, of course, he's right. You know, the longer our federal government refuses to Institute any national policies, any strategy, any giving of resources. To States and local communities the longer this stretches out. And I, I honestly, I can't even think about that because it makes me so furious that this is so much harder than it has to be.

And even should Joe Biden win and we're facing a new year with so much more work than needs to happen because we just refuse to have any national. Leadership when it comes to this pandemic, 

Beth: [00:31:48] I feel that absence of leadership more acutely right now than I have to. Even though I would say that we not have natural leadership in the whole stretch.

I feel really rudderless about COVID-19 right now in a, in a way that is strange because I'm watching these numbers just pile up and pile up and pile up. And here in Kentucky, where our governor is still working hard on this and going out and trying to send a good message. I just don't have the sense that everybody's bought in and thinking about this and we know what the rules are.

It. I really feel that sense of just your best, everyone, like good luck because there isn't a strategy and there isn't prioritization. And there aren't a lot of rules in place right now. And I I'm surprised this is another place where if I reflect on my own emotions, I am surprised by how dark that feels to me.

Sarah: [00:32:46] No. I totally agree. We are facing virtual schooling next week because our County is in the red. Right. And I'm just so frustrated that, you know, my kindergartener, who's reading thriving, who loves his teacher, who said a prayer last night about thank you for learning. And thank you for math is going to be stuck back in front of a computer screen.

I'm so furious about that because people don't. Want to do anything different and they just want to pretend like it's not happening. And I'm frustrated that the governor is not closing down restaurants and bars. I'm frustrated that it's more important that people go out to eat. Then my five-year-old gets the physical and occupational therapy he needs at school.

I'm really, really frustrated and furious and heartbroken about that. And I'm hope it's short-term and I hope it won't stretch out like it did in the spring, but who knows? Because there's so little leadership and because there's no leadership and when people are left to their own devices, they are selfish.

They are selfish. I do not think that is the default of humankind, but I think without leadership and information and people really trying. To calm people's fears and offer them hope and a vision. That's what you get. You get a sea of selfishness and that's what we are lost in right now. A sea of selfishness 

Beth: [00:34:15] add to your formula is just in the face of a threat, which creates scarcity.

So we're kind of, again, in that mindset of, Oh, what are we going to run out of? I better get those things. What happens if the hospital's over rent, like I think the more the threat realizes, and it is, and these numbers in so many ways, that sense of scarcity just increases and increases and increases. And that's where that selfishness is hard to avoid.

It's I, I'm not mad at people about it in some circumstances because that's a very human real instinct. My problem is, is that so many of us have had that sense of selfishness when we were able. To have everything that we needed. We, you know, we, we do not have to be here. Exactly what you said. We did not have to get to this point and I don't know how much more intense it's going to become.

But when I see a field hospital in use in the United States, because of this virus, it makes me really anxious about where we're headed next.

Sarah: [00:35:26] There's so much unknown right now. I know I'm not the only one clenching my jaws in my sleep. It's really difficult. And I think what I just want to offer. Is again saying you're not alone, we're all feeling it. We are all struggling under the weight of the unknowns of COVID-19 the unknown surrounding the economy in any future relief coming from the government, the unknowns around the election, not only the results, but the reactions of our fellow citizens and whether or not there will be violent reactions coming from some sections of our society.

It's just, it's so. Much. And the only way I think that we can lessen the intensity of that burden is to realize that we do not carry it on our own and that there are so many of us out there who want to do the right thing, who want to see our country go in a different direction, who want people to be happy and healthy and even the most selfish and frustrated among us, you know, I think those values are universal, even if the fear is screaming at the highest possible decibel.

And I think just remembering that we are a part of, uh, a beloved community, no matter how much there is fear and anxiety in that community right now. 

Beth: [00:36:57] When you experienced the sense of strain that we're all experiencing right now, every level of disconnection is amplified. And I'm trying to remember that too.

So where you have disagreement with people, you really love about the election. More painful now than it would be under normal circumstances where there's tension with your kids. I lost my mind the other day about my girls, not keeping their rooms clean and just, and you know, I was able to step back fortunately in that moment and say, Hey, Beth, this is probably not about the rooms is have a moment, but that's happening to all of us on so many levels.

And so I'm really excited that we're going to come together and community on election night. I think the only way to cope with that sense of. Feeling the strain, especially in our close relationships, especially over the election is to have a place to at least prop our feet up together and know that we're all being witnesses to whatever unfolds in our history.

That's the mindset I'm trying to adopt, going into Tuesday, whatever happens, I'm going to stay with it. I will be a witness to it. I will be a participant in it to the extent that makes sense. That is required of me. I will think about what I owe my fellow citizens over the next week, and I will show up with them and for them, and I think that's the best we can do and that there's something powerful and Holy about.

Sarah: [00:38:25] And I would also like to advocate breast right now because we are all carrying so much. I've. Started taking a nap every day because my body was sending me some really strong signals that I was exhausted in ways that aren't necessarily about just being tired from the day, but a deeper sense of exhaustion that I was ignoring.

And it's really, really helped. Maybe that's the actual state so much positivity going into election day is that I'm resting more and on a lighter note. Um, but also related to the 2020. Can I tell you this fun way I've found to go to sleep? Yes, please. This is going to sound like some people's worst nightmare, but it works really well for me.

So I don't even know where this came from, but one night I was laying in bed and I was trying to fall asleep and I thought I'm going to see how many United States senators I can name. Just. For kicks, I'm going to try to work through the States alphabetically and see how many senators I can name. I think I probably named over half of the States, but there was something about having to list the States.

The alphabetical nature of listing the States. And then thinking about if I knew the senators from those States that y'all, I'm still doing it, I've gotten better because sometimes I wake up in the morning, I'm like, no, for real, I got to look up who are the senators from Connecticut? It is Blumenthal and Chris Murphy for your information.

But like, there's something about that, that now, like I get to like, I don't know, Florida, and usually I'm asleep something about the way I'm listing them. And I don't know if it's like the people and the geography or what, but not only can I list, I can't list all of them. I can definitely list at least one from all, but maybe two, I'm still struggling with Wyoming, but so I'm learning, that's fun and it just really makes me fall asleep so fast.

We'll fund political hack for your sleep there. 

Beth: [00:40:32] I think that's really lovely. 

Sarah: [00:40:34] Is there anything besides rest and connection and perspective that we can offer our listeners as we move into these final few days? 

Beth: [00:40:47] For me, the other thing is always creativity. Whether that takes the form of appreciating someone else's creativity by reading a great book or a poem, or looking at beautiful art or making something yourself, and that could be baking bread or writing a poem or doing blown glass or whatever it is that you do.

I just think we need to know this relates to what you said about waiting in line for the polls. And again, I think that's a wonderful thing. And I also want us to do better every election with reducing people's time there. But I think there is something in us that exists to know that we have done things that we can see and that matter, and that could outlive us.

And so I know that I have spent a lot of time this past week. I've read more fiction than I usually do. I have baked more than I often do. I've tried to do some little creative. Just like craft projects and that stuff really helps me get out of my own head and more into my body and more into my spirit.

My nine-year-old would tell us that we're sharpening the saw with that kind of activity. And I just think that's really important when you find yourself all jammed up, recognizing that ultimately all of life is a creative project, but it's so rarely feels like it getting into something that you can just make feels good.

Sarah: [00:42:12] I 100% agree. I think the role of creativity in that release of letting your brain do something different, whether it's playing an instrument, I love to knit. I also really, really love to read and particular fiction. So I totally agree with that. And you know what. You guys are always the best source of our ideas.

So definitely share with us, um, what you're doing right now to get out of your own head, find some rest, find some release, um, and this really difficult historical moment. I would not go through it with anybody else, but you Beth and without our community, that's for sure. 

Beth: [00:42:47] Likewise. Well, we will see you on election day here on the podcast and then on hot mic in the evening. Between now and then, keep it nuanced y'all.



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