Election 2012- We've Only Just Begun

The election is Tuesday. Most are going to be glad when it’s finally over. But it’s really not going to be over- no matter who wins. It’s only the beginning.


We have some serious issues to address in this country. We can continue to kick the can down the road like we’ve been doing but we’re running out of road. And the stakes just keep getting bigger. We’re sitting here like the proverbial frog in the slowly boiling pot. We feel things getting hot, but we are not able to ask for a helping hand to get us out. Our politics won’t allow it.

It’s very likely that deciding the Presidential election on Tuesday may be a drawn-out affair. It is going to be close and could result in a president who has won the electoral college not the popular vote. That is not necessarily unusual. George W. Bush, Harry Truman, Woodrow Wilson (both times), Grover Cleveland (both times), Rutherford Hayes, Thomas Jefferson, and others have experienced the same thing. But this one may be different. Boatloads of lawyers are standing at the ready to challenge any and all aspects of the results. It could pull the country further apart rather than pulling us together.

At this point, it looks like the House will continue to be controlled by the Republicans and the Senate controlled by the Democrats. This hasn’t worked out all that well over the past four years. The emotions, the events, and the politics have created the most partisan Congress we’ve ever experienced in this country.

While the political process becomes more polarized we look ahead to “fiscal cliff” and the suffocating costs of health care we still have to address. Addressing them the right way will require real teamwork and collaboration between the parties and their constituents to reach some consensus on how to move forward. That’s the way a democracy is supposed to work. If we decide to keep growing further apart, every American is going to feel the consequences in some way or another.

So, no matter who ultimately “wins” the presidency on Tuesday (or whenever it is finally decided) this is only the beginning for the rest of us. Just because the election is settled doesn’t mean we can all shut-off our minds and move on to other things. There is too much at stake. We have a role we need to play to continue to hold those we have elected accountable and setting a direction that is good for the country and not based solely on a single political ideology. Believe it or not, both sides have some good ideas to share. Neither one has a lock on being right. While the elections may set a direction, we (the citizens) can do a lot to set the tone and demand the results.

We have a choice- not only about who is leading our country but about how it is going to be led. Now more than ever we need to stay involved and stay engaged and remain an integral part of the political process. If we continue to let individual party-ideology reign as the key determinant of how we're going to work in America- we're all going to lose. The choice is ours.