Can This Just Be Over Yet?

The first Tuesday in November has come and gone. Election night has now spilled into election morning as we await the winner of the 2020 Presidential race, ballots still flooding in as we collectively hold our breath over who will preside over the Oval Office come January.  To put it in Zoomerlenial terms via one of 2016's viral Vines, "It is Wednesday, my dudes. AHHHHHHHHHHH!" 

Never in my life have I related more to a man screaming in a Spider-Man suit and swimming goggles than I do in this very moment -- and apparently, neither do many other people on the internet. 

"Everyone for several months: the election will take days to call, we won't know on the night," wrote user @MilkmanMeme. 

Election: takes several days to call, not clear on the night 

Everyone:" they added, including an angry Pikachu reaction image. Same, Pikachu. same.  

"The election coverage is so much better with NFL Primetime music," noted @NFL_Memes of CNN's "magic wall."

 

"Biden gets 230 electoral votes if he wins every state in which I've seen the popular rock band Phish," added @Slade, the Editor in Chief at The Recount. 

"This season finale of America is really long," wrote Twitter user @GigiEngle. I personally thought there'd be more murder hornets, too. I guess we'll have to chalk it up to another disappointing finale that left fans angry.

All jokes aside, I get it. With no decisive winner in sight, it's so easy to slip into that familiar state of election despair, that anxiety-inducing fear of what, exactly, our nation will look like in 2024, for better or worse. It's a simple, albeit painful coping mechanism with what may go down as one of the most complicated presidential races in American history. Yet through it all, we must remember that this election is far from over. Democracy is complicated, and as much as we so desperately crave clarity in this political mess, our patience is more crucial than ever. We owe it to those mail-in voters to stay strong, fighting to ensure their voices are heard in deciding what type of nation we want to cultivate over the next four years. We've come this far. We've worked this hard to make sure our candidate of choice succeeds in this contentious race. It seems foolish to give up now. As John Belushi put it in Animal House, "nothing is over until we decide it is!" a sentiment that's not without historical precedence, according to Benjy Sarlin, a Policy Editor at NBC News. 

"Biden hasn't won yet, but @chucktodd also raised this comparison on air last night. If you think back to '76, you think 'Oh, of course, R's paid the price for Nixon,' But in real time, it was a white knuckle ride for Carter." Sarlin mused, referencing another tweet comparing this year's race to the 1976 election. "And similarly, there was a Democratic wave ... in the previous midterms."

I'll level with you. Per reporting from The New York Times, CNN, and other news sources, it's a tight race, and both candidates could theoretically snag a win. Although considering many mail-in ballots may put Biden as a frontrunner, anything could happen in these coming days. Yet no matter the outcome, even in the worst-case scenario, there are still things we can do to help build a compassionate, empathetic, and resilient America. We still have the midterms in 2022. We still have the 2024 election. Even today, in this very moment, we can still get involved in our communities working to help others. build the Nation we want to see on a national scale, starting with our own backyards. We're going to be okay -- I think. 

Now, reader, I implore you, fix yourself a nice, Wednesday morning Bloody Mary -- or a joint, if you're in New Jersey or Arizona -- and relax. You deserve it. Cheers.

For more American existentialism and election morning drinking, follow Carly on Instagram @HuntressThompson_ and on Twitter @TennesAnyone.