Far, far, away, in a town you've never heard of.........

[DFW]

I drove up here with my wife and younger daughter this morning to the tiny town in Niedersachsen where my wife's mom lives. It's called Löningen, and aside from cars or horses, there's no way to get here unless you're hiking and you've lost your way. It's my mom-in-law's 89th birthday, and I took the day off to be here.

She had some of her 70+ and 80+ year old lady friends (men here don't seem to have much longevity) over for late morning coffee and tea. When they heard I was from the USA and spoke German, the first question on all their minds was....."Surely that maniac, Trump, has no chance of being elected President, does he? After all that befell us when we had our own maniac 80 years ago, the world can't afford for that to happen again."

These little old ladies rarely have any contact with any place farther away than Quakenbrück or Cloppenburg (don't ask). But they follow our election in TV and in the papers. Because EVERYBODY is following our election outside our borders. Aside from people like Putin, who see an advantage in seeing Trump as president, people care--A LOT--that Trump gets nowhere near the Oval Office, and that HRC does. They care in places we've never heard of.

What we need is for just as many people Stateside to care as care in a tiny town in Lower Saxony that isn't even on most maps.

[mopinko]

1. a good reminder that a pres drumph

would leave few corners of the planet better off than they are today, and that many place will likely be blown off the face of the planet.

[niyad]

2. thank you for the reminder that this isn't just about us.

[DFW]

3. It most definitely is not JUST about us

The whole world is watching, and a squeak-by victory with an equally divided Senate will not instill the rest of the world with confidence, with the exceptions of Putin, Kim Jong-Un and the Chinese leadership, all of whom will see a president Hillary with a weak mandate as a vulnerable opponent they can push around. They'd be wrong, but their miscalculation could lead us into some hairy moments while they're finding out they were mistaken.

[niyad]

4. sadly, you analysis is quite correct.

[DFW]

5. Sort of a worst-case winning scenario

So, I hope it's not TOO correct--or at least not too accurate as a prediction. A lopsided victory would give me, as well as most of the rest of the world, a lot more confidence that we have a lot of resolve left.

[Beartracks]

7. It really is more important than any one voter's pet issue(s).

Just sayin'.



=================

[mcar]

6. Great story

And best wishes to your MIL.

[DFW]

9. Thanks. At 89, she has had her health issues

But she has beaten cancer twice and kidney failure once, and still survives on her own, even rides the 6 kilometers to her dentist on her bike. We are already making plans for her 90th next year.

[gopiscrap]

8. When I was in Europe last year one of the first questions I was asked

was that surely you don't take trump as a serious candidate do you?