The Best ‘October Surprise’ of All

We continue to wonder, even here at the midpoint of September, what the ‘October Surprise’ may turn out to be. I have determined what I hope it may yet be.

The notion of a last-minute political surprise with the potential to swing a presidential election has examples in our history of U.S. elections. It is usually thought to be a cynical ploy, one that is geared to the personal ambitions of one candidate over another. It doesn’t have to be so.

As far-fetched as this may read, my hope is that President Trump would yet launch – even now – a true national strategy that would unite us against this scourge of Covid-19. It is within his presidential power to do this. And it is not too late.

Of course, this doing this one Right Thing would entail many moving parts, and with some rapid action now. Coordinating the parts won’t be easy. It would take some capacity on the President’s part to acknowledge that our nation has stumbled initially, but that we possess the capacity for great resolve. We just need to hear the need of it voiced from the White House, as in earlier times of great national challenge.

The easy thing would be to scorn even the possibility of this. But I believe most Americans – the overwhelming majority, that is, who live outside the Political Class – would embrace and accept such a turnaround as noble and worthy and certainly needed. It would take an acknowledgement by Trump of the errors in his early response to the pandemic. But this level of candor would be welcomed.

There is still time to set things aright regarding the politicization of the nation’s public health apparatus, the multitude of state government responses, the catastrophe of a missing national strategy, and the chaos of competing aims and opinions at a time like this.

This would be the biggest October Surprise of all. It would save lives. It could save our economy, even now.

There is always time to do the right thing. Doing the right thing is the best kind of politics.

© Keel Hunt, 2020