Here we go, folks: This election is ON

Okay, I get it. There is a LOT NOT to like about your choices in this year's presidential election. There is also a LOT NOT to like about the 2024 election cycle.

Former (and maybe future) president Donald Trump is a polarizing figure, if there ever was one. In my mind, President Trump helped us overcome the COVID-19 pandemic and protected businesses such as mine in the process.

But Trump also has a dual personality and an irritating oversell presence on social media. If the best of Trump would come through all of the time, he perhaps would win this election in a big way.

But it won't. Donald J. Trump is who he is. He often exaggerates and often compromises the truth.

The Republicans don't mind it. The Democrats are constantly irritated by it. I wish Trump could constantly be in his positive vibe and angle. But it won't happen.

Then we turn to Vice President Kamala Harris: She briefly was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. Her campaign went nowhere. The eventual nominee, Joe Biden, tapped her to be his running mate, pitching the female vote all the way. In fact, when his selection of running mate was still in doubt, Biden told voters that they would learn who SHE is in advance of his selection.

Harris is definitely approachable. She comes across with a positive vibe, despite those who question her recent appearances in the media. Republicans here in my state of Tennessee say that the Democratic party has shifted too far to the left (forever) for them to ever associate with it.

This is sad to me. Tennessee once was a bellwether state and seemed to split tickets and to pick the winner most all of the time in presidential races. The trend ended in 2004: No more. Tennessee is Republican and will stay that way for the indefinite future. We voted for the losing candidate in 2008, 2012, and 2020. Only Donald Trump's victory in 2016 was an exception so far. Trump may (or may not) win here in 2024. But Tennessee will send its eleven presidential electors to Nashville for Donald Trump, regardless of his national status.

NEITHER candidate has addressed the real issue facing the federal government: The ongoing deficits and debt. In the course of time, debt will become a huge issue for the federal government.

With our eleven electoral votes almost certainly going to President Trump, our state has been buried in irrelevancy in the current cycle. We are no battleground. States such as Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Arizona will decide the ultimate winner of this election - per the electoral college.

Yes, folks: You are NOT voting for Donald J. Trump or Kamala D. Harris and their respective running mates. You are voting for a slate of electors who are committed to one candidate or the other. The real presidential election will happen in early December of this year in fifty state capitals and in the District of Columbia.

Some say that this process is flawed, but it matters not: It is what our founding fathers wrote into our constitution, and so shall it be.

One more point: Voters in Tennessee are not just picking presidential electors. They are also picking representatives in the United States House of the same. We are picking a United States Senator. All state representative districts are open and up for grabs. Some (but not all) of the state Senate districts have elections.

Are you confused yet? I hope not. May God bless our great country, and may he bless you, too.

James A. Rose, Publisher