A 'Go Vote' Message Every World Series Fanatic And Lukewarm Clinton Supporter Should Read

A "Go Vote" Message Every World Series Fanatic and Lukewarm Clinton Supporter Should Read
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Ron Cogswell // Flickr

I struggled for a long time to come up with a "go vote" message for the anti-Trump crowd that remains lukewarm or unenthusiastic about Hillary Clinton. That is, one that made some unique sense and didn't recycle every other "go vote" message I've read, along with every other "Hillary is the most qualified person to seek the office and Trump is as fit for the office as a neurotic traffic cone" I've already written.

Last night, in the bottom of the tenth inning, as a smiling Kris Bryant tossed a fielded ground ball to Anthony Rizzo for the final out and the Chicago Cub’s first World Series title in 108 years, I found it.

According to statistics experts, after losing the fourth game of the World Series last week, the Chicago Cubs, down 3 games to 1, had a 15% chance of winning the next three games and capturing the title. According to the election model at 538 as of today (at 3:41 P.M. PST), Donald Trump’s chances of winning the Presidential Election stand at 34.0%. The New York Times’ election model pegged his chances at around 14%. The Princeton Election Consortium assesses the chances of a Trump win at around 3%. The totally unscientific consensus (accomplished by me simply averaging them) of these three popular election models is that Trump’s chances of a win next Tuesday currently hover around 17%.

Not really the point. In case you're reading this from under a rock, the Cubs won three games in a row to capture the World Series. And in case you haven’t been reading this at all, that means the Cubs overcame a similar position as the statistical underdog as Donald Trump will have to overcome to be elected President.

The moral of the story is that 15% might seem like a small chance, but it is not. Now is the exact wrong time to be "sick of" this election or "wish it was over" if you haven't yet voted for Hillary Clinton - and even if you have, since you should be encouraging others to vote, too. While nearly a quarter of all expected votes in the Presidential election have already been cast thanks to early voting, they show Clinton underperforming President Obama’s early voting numbers for years ago.

To take one example from The Guardian: “Ballot requests from likely supporters have been weak in parts of the midwest, while African American turnout is down.”

Next Tuesday - and I say this fully aware of the hyperbole - will be one of the most important days in political history in our lifetimes. There are pages of reasons, ranging from the states of potentially four new Supreme Court appointments, to basic knowledge about the economy to an even-tempered foreign policy, to support Clinton that are worth referencing, but not detailing here. Don’t be fooled into a false sense of security merely because a self-serving carnival barker seeks the nation’s highest office. Instead, be motivated.

Unlike a World Series, which happens every October, we won't get a do-over for another four years, by which time it could well be too late.

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