Welcome to the November print edition of the RN&R!
Because we’re a monthly newspaper in print, I’m always working in something of a time warp. In the middle of each month, it almost seems as if the beginning of the following month is “the present,” because that’s when we’ll publish the next issue of the paper—and my mind is always on the next issue of the paper. The local events you read about in the RN&R a few days before they happen? We’re discussing them internally weeks before that.
As we send this issue to press on Tuesday, Oct. 29, a full week before the Nov. 5 election, it feels like the biggest time warp ever. This is the highest-stakes election of my lifetime, and by the time some of our readers pick up the paper, there’s a good chance that something monumental will have already happened.
So, what does the near future (which for you, print reader, may already be the recent past) hold? I make no predictions. I’ve never been good with the crystal ball. Heck, when I first saw someone scroll through a photo album on an iPhone in 2007, I was sure it was a passing fad for deep-pocketed gadget junkies. Could a person possibly have been more wrong about the imminent future?
When everything involving the election is finally settled, the United States will have one of two very different leaders ready to take office in January. Will Nevada be represented in the U.S. Senate by incumbent Democrat Jacky Rosen or Army veteran or Republican Sam Brown? Reproductive rights either will or won’t be enshrined the Nevada Constitution, and a portion of Washoe County’s tax revenue either will or won’t be earmarked to keep the library system’s budget stable.
By the time you pick up our December issue, the nation, the state and the county may well feel like very different places than they do now.
As you’ve likely heard countless times by now, the two major presidential candidates are neck in neck in the polls. An CNN poll released on Oct. 29 reports that in Nevada, the contest is 48%-47% in favor of Donald Trump, and “those 1-point margins fall within each poll’s margin of sampling error” anyway.
Trump has discussed his Day 1 aspirations widely. Back in December 2023, he promised to close the border, and his stance on immigrants has remained consistent. By Oct. 27, during a rally at Madison Square Garden in New York City, he promised that on Day 1 in office, he would implement a mass deportation. Kamala Harris, when asked about Day 1 plans, has often said she’ll prioritize creating an “opportunity economy,” trying to bring down the cost of basic necessities and extending the child tax credit. She’s also said repeatedly that expanding and protecting reproductive rights is an urgent priority she’d tackle immediately.
While many of us might spend Day 1 at a new job getting the lay of the land and settling in, U.S. presidents typically hit the ground running. On Joe Biden’s first day in office, he signed 17 executive actions.
At this point, it’s anyone’s guess which set of actions may get signed on Jan. 20, 2025.
Does anyone else feel like they’re at the crest of a roller coaster, about to speed down a stomach-churning drop into the unknown?
In any case, I’m looking forward to picking up this conversation with you all in the December issue.