by Jonathan Reisman

This is a problematic effort because hopes and fears are swamping fact-based analysis, and the incredible media bias and malfeasant efforts to suppress Republican turnout with misinformation, misdirection and outright lies make determining what the facts actually are very difficult if not impossible. Nevertheless, here are my predictions, written less than a week before the election. I have never wished harder to be wrong.

The Presidency…. Goes to the Biden crime family and Kamala Harris. It will not be decided on Nov 3, and quite possibly not until after Thanksgiving. Trump will lose Arizona, Florida and Georgia, giving Biden the necessary 271 electoral votes. Trump may win an initial plurality in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District but ranked-choice voting will erase this. Thank you, Governor Mills, may I have another?

The US Senate… goes to the Democrats, with victories in Maine, Colorado and Arizona, with Vice-President Harris breaking 50-50 ties. Susan Collins will win the 2nd Congressional District, but not by a big enough margin to overcome the walloping she takes in Portland and southern Maine. Collins may have an election night plurality, but late counted early votes and ranked-choice voting will put Gideon over the top.

The US House… stays Democratic, with Jared Golden coasting to victory over Dale Crafts and the ghost of Paul LePage. Golden will be comfortably ensconced in his seat for the foreseeable future. Running a non-veteran baby boomer against millennial veteran Golden was not a smart move, and Republicans (and Democrats) should thank Governor LePage for it.

The Maine Legislature….stays in control of the Democrats, giving them the right to gerrymander districts to their liking. All Washington County incumbents are returned to their seats, with only Robert Alley serving in the majority. In next-door Hancock County, Senator Louis Luchini holds his seat against former Senator Brian Langley, likely holding the State Senate for the Democrats.

Elections have consequences…The country will move towards socialism, with Bernie Sanders and AOC assuming leadership roles in Congress. Kamala ”Cassius” Harris, the Senator with the most left-wing voting record, has a lean and hungry look (and laugh) which should make Caesar Biden very nervous. Socialism will truly suck, but AOC, Bernie, Kamala and their voters will not be hurting- party members and apparatchiks will get preferential treatment. As in Animal Farm, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others. The plebes who voted for Trump will be made to suffer. I see a re-education camp in my future, staffed by an Antifa warden and Black Lives Matter guards who insist that if I renounce my white privilege and systemic racism, kneel and submit, hard work will set me free.

It is faintly possible that conservatives will react to the destruction of our freedom in a fashion similar to what progressives did after Trump won….launch a resistance and a coup, and plot to regain power. The events of the last four years have certainly “woke” many on the right to the implacable hatred the left has for them and their ideas of freedom. I suspect not, however. Socialist revolutions are not easily or quickly overturned. It took more than 75 years and immense amounts of blood and treasure to end the Soviet Union… and now we have Putin and a Kleptocracy. China and Cuba remain states controlled by the Communist Party, as does Venezuela. Once elected, socialists are very hard to evict, especially if they can disarm the populace. Speaker Ocasio-Cortez anyone?

Jon Reisman is an associate professor of economics and public policy at the University of Maine at Machias. His views are his own. Mr. Reisman welcomes comments as letters to the editor here or to him directly via email at [email protected]