The big day is near. It is the scariest day of the year!
Wondering which one? Me too.
Is it just coincidence that Halloween is the last day in October and national election day is the day after the first Monday in November? Or is it a secret masonic nod to the algebraic connection between poltergeist and politician, kelpie and candidate, the spook and the spoiler?
A phantom formula written in invisible ink? We're exorcising apparitions on one day and exercising applicants on the next. Something's got to be going on, says a thousand and one podcasts and a guy at Lowe's who doesn't know what a podcast is.
Here's a fun fact. Much of colonial America didn't observe Halloween due to strict Protestantism in the northeast. It turns out places busy holding witch trials don't usually go for skeleton costumes and the broom and peaked hat ensemble. You had to travel south to get your ethereal on without fear of stoning.
But by the mid 19th century, Halloween was observed on October 31 in every state and most territories. The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November as national election day was first observed in 1848. That means elections and Halloween were nationalized around the same time.
For those of you keeping score, Whig and Mexican American War hero Zachary Taylor won the presidency in 1848 defeating Lewis Cass of the Democratic Party and former president and Democrat Martin Van Buren who'd formed the Free Soil Party. Old Rough and Ready celebrated only one Halloween in office. He ate a lot of cherries celebrating Independence Day and died of indigestion in 1850.
Or he was poisoned by Jesuit priests, said letters received by his successor Millard Filmore.
What were Americans afraid of in 1848? The demons of the mid 19th century included immigrants, an influx of a new religion, the accelerating advance of technology, and a cabal of slave holders plotting to take over the government. Sound familiar? It's kind of scary.
There's something about the more things change.
The Irish and Germans would drag us down. Instead of Islamic terrorists it was Catholics (see Jesuit reference above). Their AI was the telegraph and railroads. Their tech billionaires were slaveholders which were the only demons to really worry about. We both shared the popular view of particular religious practitioners that end days are nigh.
Has there ever been a time when the end wasn't near?
It is the scary time of year and that's the time to stand up to your fears. What you should never fear is voting or the office you vote for. Election Day can be a stake through the heart of the blood suckers. Like All Souls, there's an election day every year.
If you have anything to worry about, it's the people you don't vote for that can affect your life. The demons aren't on the ballot, only the people who can take the demons down or will let them ring your doorbell.
Trick or treat? Vote.