2012 Was the Last Normal Election

It’s all been batshit since then.

If you’ve never watched it, I highly recommend the Netflix documentary Mitt, which follows 2012 Republican nominee for President Mitt Romney around in the final days of that campaign. It is the most humanizing portrait of a Presidential candidate I’ve ever seen, showing Romney at his most relatable, goofy, awkward and relentlessly cheerful: If you do not like Mitt Romney — and I think you probably should — it might just sway you. I am glad he did not win that election, but he acquitted himself well: He’s as normal a person, I’d argue, that has run for President in decades. What’s most remarkable, though, watching the documentary today, is how it showcases the contours of a conventional Presidential election. Candidates defend their platform, criticize their opponent’s views, attempt to appeal to undecided voters, debate the issues of the day. The election the documentary captures happened 10 years ago. But it might as well have been a century ago.

Election Day is Tuesday, and, as usual, it feels like the entire world is on fire.