As Election Day Looms, We Must Hang Together

In less than 24 hours voters will begin casting their ballots at election polls around the country. It is an election that will decide which party controls congress and the senate, and it will reflect the emotional as well as political mindset of America.

The question, in the face of one existential threat after another – global warming, a pandemic and Russia’s nuclear saber rattling – is whether we will overcome the divisiveness that has infected the country or yield to it. We know our adversaries in China and Russia have been planning and working to ensure the latter outcome.

I believe, perhaps naively, that the majority of Republicans and Democrats view themselves as Americans first, rather than in terms of their political affiliation. What then can be done about the divisiveness and hostility that has become so widespread?

For one thing, are our children being taught enough in school about the meaning of democracy and representative government? After all, they are the leaders and legislators of tomorrow.

Are we preparing them to be good citizens with critical thinking skills who view others not by their politics or by race, religion or sexual orientation, but rather, in the words of Martin Luther King, by the content of their character?

They should be learning about a fundamental aspect of democracy, i.e., when candidates run for office and win, they take a victory lap graciously and when they lose, they congratulate their opponent and wish them, and America, Godspeed. They do this because they are an American first, and a Republican or Democrat second.

Sen. John McCain was a shining example of this, not only when he served and nearly lost his life in the Vietnam war, but when he challenged a voter during his 2008 presidential run. He corrected a woman who questioned Barak Obama’s citizenship and allegiance, telling her that Barak Obama was a good man and a good American.

But things have changed, giving rise to a new breed of politicians who, when asked whether they’ll accept election results respond, “If I win, yes.” Their response is antithetical to the very underpinnings of democracy, which only works when we all buy into a shared vision, not the idiosyncratic view of reality held by a small but vocal minority. Denying election results despite numerous court decisions and election recounts upholding them is as idiosyncratic as one can get.

After the polls close tomorrow and the last vote is counted, which may take several or more days, we would do well to heed the words of Ben Franklin who famously said, “We must all hang together or, assuredly, we will all hang separately.” His words are as relevant today as they were 246 years ago.