The 2026 Derby: Bets are Swinging In the US
The race has started. Donkeys and Elephants are at the starting gate. The bookie is currently passing through the stands, gathering bets for the upcoming event. Who will win? Well, assumptions can be made; there could be rough runners, but the surprise factor is always at stake.
The Donkeys have a slight chance to win over the Elephants. However, the former suffered a crushing defeat during the main 2024 race. The “Old Orange Elephant" won it, and he now threatens to cancel the 2026 race altogether. His logic? “There shouldn’t be another track. Why? We, the Elephants, are already the best of the best, so there’s no need for further competition.” Opponents are already preparing a series of actions in case the event doesn’t happen on time, arguing, “It’s very worrying that we contemplate scenarios in which we cannot run; it’s our very purpose and culture that could be jeopardized.”
How have we got to this place, where the main traditional act, in which the public chooses its representatives to win, is now teetering on the edge of vacuum entertainment? How can people win their bets? Is there any trust left on the racetracks? Perhaps the major problem is the accumulation of crises: terrorist threats, wars, financial collapse, pandemic events, social fractures, identity crises, the Epstein files, ICE raids, massive deportations, and arbitrary arrests... None of the Donkeys and, of course, none of the Elephants could do much about them. Woes, polarization, and lack of wit are not letting the representatives of either team finish the race in good shape or build any uplifting trust for the next lap.
The public eye is expecting too much this year. However, the real menace is that there is no serious candidate to face the Orange Elephant’s machine. The Donkeys are divided, more worried about their self-centered concepts rather than running straight forward to the finish line. There’s no leader; perhaps the California and New York Donkeys are embodying such a role, but they don’t know how to run in the countryside, the mountains, or the desert; they only stay on the paved roads of their coastal cities.
Currently, the bets are pointing in favor of the Donkeys. This is largely because the Old Orange Elephant is experiencing some “coordination problems," and the fact that the Epstein files remain one of the major scandals in the contemporary history of the Elephant & Donkey race. Given these hurdles, it seems quite obvious why the event might not even make it to the November 2026 prime time.
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