At the beginning of the story, Eckels arrives at the Time Safari office and is astonished by the amazing Time Machine. As Eckels stares at the Time Machine, he alludes to possibly traveling back in time if President Keith did not win the election. Eckels then tells the employee behind the desk that they are thankful Keith won the election and expresses his belief that Keith will make a fine leader. The employee responds to Eckel's comment by saying that if Deutscher won the election, they would be under the rule of an oppressive dictatorship. The employee then elaborates on Deutscher's political views by saying,

There's an anti-everything man for you, a militarist, anti-­Christ, anti­-human, anti-intellectual. (Bradbury, 2)

Judging by the employee's comments, the audience can surmise that Keith champions democracy and personal freedoms while Deutscher is a strict authoritarian. President Keith also seems to support education and technological advancements. Given Deutscher's harsh, authoritarian policies, it is easy to see why a man like Eckels would be happy Keith won the election. Eckels realizes that a man like Deutscher would make his life miserable and time travel would not even be an option.

Unfortunately, Eckels travels back in time, panics after coming face-to-face with a Tyrannosaurus Rex and runs off the floating Path. Eckels accidentally steps on a prehistoric butterfly and dramatically alters the course of human history. When he returns to the present, Deutscher has won the election and established a dystopian society.