We’ve likely asked the question, or some form of it, several times in even the last few weeks or days — of family and friends, co-workers and neighbors — and answered it ourselves just as many times.
It’s a common, simple greeting. Maybe only a pleasantry — depending on the day’s events or our mood in that moment.
But, today, I’m not casually asking the question. It’s not an inconsequential remark to be friendly. Really, truly, how are you doing?
Me? I’m not sure how to process it all.
I’m writing this on Sunday evening, about five hours after President Joe Biden announced that he was dropping his reelection bid, the stunning end to a tumultuous month of political messiness and uncertainty that will live forever in American history books.
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I used ‘tumultuous’ as the adjective. You might choose chaotic or ugly, contentious or turbulent. But, really, is there even a word that can aptly describe the last few weeks — beginning with Biden’s exceptionally poor debate performance in Atlanta in the final days of June that rightly brought into question his mental acuity and ability to serve as commander-in-chief; to the despicable attempted assassination of Donald Trump, Biden’s predecessor in the Oval Office and the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 race who has, remarkably, unified his party; to the four-day Republican National Convention in Milwaukee that sent mixed messages of unity and division, sparked controversy for a prayer to a non-Christian god and concluded with Trump’s historically long acceptance speech that included a riveting recount of his brush with death.
You know you’re living in a political whirlwind when a major party’s announcement of a vice-presidential running mate is in the headlines for what seems like only a few minutes.
But, in fact, Trump’s selection of Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, a one-time, self-described “Never Trump” conservative who has transformed in recent years to become a fierce voice for the Make America Great Again movement, might not become a storyline again until the first vice presidential debate.
“We don’t know who the Democrat nominee for Vice President is going to be, so we can’t lock in a date before their convention. To do so would be unfair to [California Gov.] Gavin Newsom, [Illinois Gov.] JB Pritzker, [Michigan Gov.] Gretchen Whitmer, or whoever Kamala Harris picks as her running mate,” the Trump campaign said in a zinger of a statement four days before Biden stepped aside and endorsed Harris to take up the Democrats’ mantle.
But, Harris still must capture her party’s presidential nomination. Will Democrats unite behind her in the same way Republicans have to support Trump? Who will be the running mate? What else might change between now and the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19-22 in Chicago?
Then there’s this: Now, suddenly, it’s Trump and not Biden who is the oldest presidential nominee in our country’s history. What of his mental fitness at 78 years old?
We all know, too, the political temperature is beyond the boiling point. Each side is convinced that they’re fighting to “save” democracy. At his rally in Michigan over the weekend, Trump said he “took a bullet for democracy.” Democrats, meanwhile, have shouted for months that it is Trump himself who is an existential threat to democracy.
Who’s right depends on who you ask.
So many questions — but I’m not writing with political answers, or to point my finger and tell anybody what to think or who to vote for.
My sole focus is on the question I asked at the top: How are you doing?
We are living in unparalleled times in our politics, in a dark world that has allowed government to infiltrate or overtake too much of our lives, and at a time in which our churches have yielded too much of the high ground. Our standards are mostly lost.
When we ask somebody, “How are you doing?,” we have to mean it. I’m challenging myself to listen — really listen. If we don’t prioritize taking care of each other — regardless of one’s political beliefs or convictions — we all lose.
Steve Kiggins is a local news director for Lee Enterprises, and executive editor of The Missoulian and for Lee Montana. Email him at steve.kiggins@lee.net. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @scoopskiggy.
