Can we have an honest discussion about the 2020 Presidential Election?
1) There is bound to be uncertainty. A month from now many of us will have voted in what is being labeled the most important election in our lifetimes, if not ever. We will wake up the morning of November 4th with at least a little apprehension (if not a lot). The apprehension will be understandable because even though the vote will be technically over, there probably won’t be a victor. Or if there is a “victor,”there is a good chance that that person won’t be declared the unanimous victor for some time. There is even a good chance that in some scenarios, the “victor” on November 4th will not be the victor on January 20th.
I remember well the uncertainty in the aftermath of the 2000 Presidential Election between Al Gore and George Bush. I have always found it interesting how news stations can call states for one candidate or the other with only a fraction of the votes counted. On that particular night several news stations had to retract their stance that Al Gore had won Florida and put it back in the category of too close to call. That too close to call label lasted for months as we sorted through hanging chads and voter intent. I worry that we are in for an even crazier ride this go around.
Earlier this week, the Tampa Bay Lightning skated to a hard-fought Stanley Cup victory. When the NBA Finals wraps up this week (or the next) and the final whistle blows, we will know who the winner is. The same will hold true later this month when the final out is called in the World Series. In sports, even though as fans we may not like the outcome, the results are what they are; the contest is limited to a finite moment in time and space, and as a competitor, you do what you can in the alloted time to will your side to victory.
As fans, there is no recourse after the fact to appeal the contested outcome to authorities beyond those that officiated during the contest. The referees are the final arbiters and rightly have the final say in the contested outcome. We can second-guess and curse all we like at a blown call and ponder what might have been; but, at the end of the day, history, for better or for worse, declares the victor and life moves on.
I worry that there are forces in the world that will not be satisfied with the outcome of the election and will not allow life to just move on.
2) It doesn’t matter who wins the election. Or, in other words, the winner of the 2020 election should have about as much sway over your life as the fact that the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Dallas Stars 4 games to 2 in the Stanley Cup finals. Short answer: ackowledge and move on.
I have written a version of the preceeding sentences over and over in my mind for the past 4 years. I wrote a similar sentences for the heated 2016 Presidential Election when we faced another “most important election in our lifetimes.” I don’t know if I will continue to write that sentence for the next four years, but there is a reasonable chance that we don’t right this ship and that 2024 will come too fast for me to change my mind.
I write such statements not as someone who has given up hope on his country, nor as an ostrich with his head in the sand. On the contray, I am fully and painfully aware that there are clear differences to the two major party candidates vying for the job. If prompted, I could rattle off 100+ reasons (both personal and policy related) as to why each candidate’s positions are flawed and should disqualify them from office. I don’t plan on voting for either of them. I readily acknowledge that one candidate would govern vastly differently from the other candidate, and that the results of this election will have rippling reprecussions for years to come. However, I refuse to look to the election as a solution to non-politcal problems.
So we could debate all day why so and so is a better candidate and would do a much better job than his opponent. And in so doing we might come to a conclusion that some issues are indeed political are better handled by so and so rather than the other guy — and vice versa. But over the course of that same conversation, you and I would also come to the conclusion that we have social ills that cannot be solved by politicans, and having so and so as president would be as effective in healing the country as the color of the cast is in healing a broken arm.
3) Life matters more on November 4th than it does on November 3rd. My concern never has been and never will be about the qualifcations or policy stances of the person in charge of the nuclear codes. My concerns have always been about our perception of each other as citizens. It is well and good for us to work and fight for our candidate as hard as we possibly can within the boundaries of the law. In fact, it is our obligation as citizens to do so as we push and stretch the national conversation about who should lead us over the next four years. But what matters more is accepting the peaceful transistion of power that must occur between our duly elected leaders.
Anyone can step into the ring to struggle with an opponent in a competition of ideas or physical prowess. The challenge is not in besting your opponent, but in befriending him, in seeing him in the same light and humanity you see yourself, to see equal amounts of dignity and potential in both of your lives, and to heartily shake his hand in victory or defeat as a worthy advesary with whom you have shared a worthy contest.
I fully expect that these next 30 days in the leadup to the election will be heated and possibly even at times vitriolic. But if we are to survive as a nation, they cannot be all-consuming.
4) Things are going to get worse before they get better. Those of us who remember the 2000 election, if we are honest, will concede that there were times we were fearful that the election would never get sorted out. Thankfully, three things happened to put an end to the chaos. First, both the Florida and United States’ Supreme Courts were able to make rulings on the issue of the election process. Secondly, people accepted the rulings of the Supreme Courts, even if those decisions did not go the way they had hoped. But most imporantly was that Al Gore conceded the election. I am sure that there are Monday-morning political quaterbacks who could still today map out a path wherein Al Gore could keep challenging the election until he got the results he wanted. But by remembering that the presidency was bigger than his ambition he did the honorable thing and allowed the nation to move forward and heal.
There are going to be people on all sides of the upcoming election who lack the requisite honor and integrity to allow the nation to move forward and heal. There are going to be instigators and firebrands who will claim one thing or another sometimes with solid legal standing and sometimes for their own personal ambitions. It is only a matter of time before these firebrands, either on their own or because we amplify their toxic message on our social media feeds, find a big enough platform to ignite this tinderbox climate and create a raging inferno.
5) We are really all in this together. Optimism says that every vote should be counted. Practicality and experience remind us that 10%-20% of absentee and mail-in ballots are regularly disgarded for not meeting election criteria. We have already seen voting mishaps in Iowa, New York, and Michigan on a small scale. Who in their right mind believes that things are going to go smoothly in November in scenarios that have never been tried before on a national scale? Chaos and uncertainty have already been baked into this equation, but they have the potential to run rampant. It is our duty as much as possible to stomp out the fires and promote peace amongst ourselves as we wait patiently for things to settle down. And if life does not settle down on its own, or if the settling process takes longer than expected, then to be the means whereby it does settle down. And then to be peacekeepers and peace ecouragers in an increasingly partisan world.
Biology reminds us that we have a common ancestor. The scriptures teach us that we are ALL sons and daughters of Heavenly Parents. As both literal and spiritual brothers and sisters we need to remember that we have an obligation to treat each and every one with dignity and respect, even (and maybe especially) if we vehemently disagree with their political and social opinions. It is easy to blame the current state of partisan rhetoric on this or that, on this person or that person. It is more important to go beyond the easy blame game, to recognize that even if the problem didn’t start with you, it can end with you.
