Standing in line to vote

It's the night before the elections. By all predictive accounts it's not a good time for Democrats. If you're supportive of what the Democrats stand for, of what has been accomplished in the last 2 years, of the overall job our president has done (even though you might disagree with some of his stances), it would be easy to feel very discouraged tonight. Anonymous donations are creating a flood of negative political messages now that the Supreme Court has decided that money and profit-driven corporations have the same rights of free speech as individuals. The possibility of a return to a monied plutocracy from a representative democracy looms. The first major steps toward health care coverage for all seems threatened. Angry epithets are hurled publicly. The media has created a business model based on inflammatory distortion and simplification of our major societal problems rather than participating in helping to educate us about the difficult choices that are needed to ensure our future. And on and on.

However, it felt really good to stand in line for an hour to vote on Saturday. Everyone was civil. Sample ballots were passed down the line. No one seemed angry. Kids were with their parents, purposefully brought along for this community civics lesson. Maybe I was projecting, but I felt a sense that everyone was taking their opportunity to participate as a serious obligation. I left feeling pride in our system and hope for its ability to balance my worries about the specific outcomes tomorrow. And with the knowledge that --should all the possible concerns I mentioned start to materialize --I'd have the opportunity to stand in line once again in two years to do my part to help set the country on the right path.