The Tuesday after Memorial Day, I dragged a roller bag through the flood of humanity at Washington National Airport. Leaping past strollers, dodging glassy-eyed travelers as they picked through sandwiches and perfumes and electronics, I hoofed it toward the Metro station to hop a train to my conference hotel.
There at the throat of Terminal A, the world went calm. Just where the crowds thinned, across the gray Astroturf from the Dunkin Donuts, the window of the news stand/gift shop was plastered with two t-shirts with block red-white-and-blue letters: “Hillary for President,” “Trump for President.”
The simplicity of this stopped me in my tracks, and I scanned the store for any sign of The Bern. Nada. I couldn’t believe it. It was the day after Memorial Day. On the left coast, artillery was still being launched, Democrat on Democrat, across Zoe Dunning’s Facebook page over Snoozegate 2016. In our nation’s capital, though, with its own Democratic primary, the final Democratic primary of the election, still two weeks away, the t-shirt vendors had already called it.
“It’s over,” I thought, and sighed in relief. Then I checked over my shoulder for any sign that I’d moved my lips or anyone had read my mind and quickly moved on.
Okay, so a t-shirt display is not exactly scientific proof that the Democratic primary contest is over. When the guys who stake their livelihood on memorabilia start cutting merchandise, though, that’s gotta be an indication of demand, right? If t-shirt stock levels don’t impress, maybe statistical analysis will. Senior political writer Harry Enten from FiveThirtyEight, the statistical analysis site famous for its accuracy in pre-election picks, correctly predicted that Hillary would wrap up the nomination before the California Primary on June 7. AP, the New York Times and other media outlets did the same. It looks like D.C.’s t-shirt hawkers got it right, and there’s relief in the clarity of that tee dichotomy: “Hillary for President.” “Trump for President.” It’s not that I disagree with Senator Sanders’ ideas and think he deserves to get the boot. He’s leaned the Democratic Party back in a more progressive direction, and I’m glad for that. It’s not that I relish a political battle against a reality TV bully. Ronald Reagan showed the world that factual accuracy isn’t as important as entertaining TV, and every day, Trump is demonstrating how far you can push that envelope. That scares me.
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