Although I wasn’t polled, I am among the 7 in 10 Americans whom The Associated Press reported Thursday are anxious or frustrated about the 2024 election.

As a student and former teacher of American history, I can remember some “wild and crazy” elections. However, I can’t remember any campaign that has been as demeaning and disgusting as this one.

The Pew Research Center found that Democrats and Republicans are becoming more likely to view members of the other party as unintelligent, lazy, immoral or dishonest.

The people of this country deserve better.

Here is a sample of what we’ve been hearing from the candidates:

Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has argued that former Republican President Donald Trump is a fascist and is obsessed with revenge and his own personal needs, while Trump referred to Harris at a rally on Sunday night as “a trainwreck who has destroyed everything in her path.”

Both candidates experienced some last-minute events that shook both their campaigns.

Tony Hinchcliffe, a comedian who spoke at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in New York Sunday called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Trump said he didn’t know the guy, but news reports have said all his campaign speakers are vetted and their remarks are approved by Trump’s campaign staff.

That untimely joke has definitely cost Trump some votes.

When asked about that event, President Joe Biden said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” Biden tried to clarify his remarks by saying, “His (Trump’s) demonization of Latinos is unconscionable. That’s all I meant to say.”

Biden earlier told Democratic campaign workers in New Hampshire that,  “We got to lock him up.” The AP said he quickly caught himself to add: “Politically lock him up. Lock him out. That’s what we have to do.”

You can be sure voters aren’t buying that explanation either.

Trump keeps coming up with derogatory remarks about Harris. In Albuquerque, he said, “She’s worse than crooked Hillary (Clinton). Well, at least Hillary was intelligent,” Trump said.

“This one is a total stiff,” he added about Harris.

Harris a number of times has said she would enter the Oval Office with a “to-do list,” while Trump would enter with an “enemies list.”

Trump continues to talk about rigged elections. The latest is that he only lost New Mexico because it was rigged.

When he arrived there he said, “Look, I’m only here for one reason. They all said, don’t come. I said ‘Why? ‘You can’t win in New Mexico.’ I said look, your votes are rigged. We can win in New Mexico.” Actually, the state hasn’t voted for a GOP presidential candidate since 2004.

Then there is the big money. Billionaire Elon Musk has spent more than $119 million bankrolling the America PAC that’s helping elect Trump. That is second to the $150 million given by Miriam Adelson to independent PACs helping Trump.

Former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has donated more than $47 million to Democrats this election cycle.

Late reports indicate the U.S. economy is the envy of the world, with strong growth, easing prices and a robust job market, but voters are still thinking about high prices caused by once-in-a-lifetime inflation that has almost vanished.

It was reported Thursday that more than 62 million people have already voted in the 2024 election.

In 2020, alternatives to in-person voting on Election Day made up a staggering 70% of overall turnout, up from 40% in 2016, as states temporarily expanded their options for how voters could cast their ballots during the pandemic.

The AP tracker of state early-voting tallies shows enthusiasm this year still appears high in several battleground states.

Now that campaigning is close to ending, NBC said voters are asking the question of the hour. How long will it take for states to count their ballots this year?

Although some changes have been made to speed up the count, NBC said it could still take days to get a full picture of the results. That is especially true for Arizona, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

If this election is as close as expected, goodness knows when we will find out who won.

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com.

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