I think it matters not so much who you vote for today but why. If your higher motivation is hate and fear of the other side as opposed to what yours has to offer, than I’d argue you are missing the boat on the spirit of American small r republicanism.
Sure, the differing issues and candidates are important, but they are not going to make or break this country and shouldn’t be treated as such. The voting process itself keeps us connected to our Founding principles, which is the glue the binds us together.
Voting is how civilized societies decide issues that in previous times were fought on a battlefield; the peaceful transfer of power from one political party to another. Each cycle brings change and a test period for those newly elected officials to prove their mettle. Really it’s all quite miraculous.
So sure, make your vote count but do so out of love of country, respect for your fellow citizens and thankfulness that we even get to participate in the process in the first place.
And if you’re guy/side doesn’t win it’s not the end of the world. Really, it isn’t.
Freedom Through Empowerment 
Good post Tricia and you are right. Regardless of outcomes, the world is not going to end. Too bad most people don’t understand that.
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Thanks James. 🙂
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One could argue the ramifications to a future history if one side or another wins, especially when the future is so unpredictable… and indeed some future cause & effect resulting from this election win or lose could result in an end to the world. But.. to your more immediate point, yes.. the world is not likely going to end a week from now.. I’ll even go a month out… regardless who wins. 🙂
Here’s the larger point. If the predictions are correct this will be the largest voter turnout for any midterm election in U.S. history. Regardless the size, this election, more than most, is based more on pure love of country. Divisive as we are, both sides are voting because they are concerned for their country. In fact, I might argue that love for country has never mattered so much before as it does in this election. That love is determined by what we are voting for, and the intensity of the “why” we are voting for it. Most, if not all elections are inspired by some level of fear.. fear of the other guy winning, fear of your guy loosing, etc. While we might say we are all voting for love of country our true inspiration is that love is born from fear.. more than ever before.
Here’s my concern… our “love” for country in this election, using our vote born from fear of loosing and fear of the inherent ramifications… will the loosing side simply yield their views that represented their love for country, shrug it all off as “that’s democracy”, and accept the winner(s)? I’m not so sure. This election is going to do NOTHING toward unifying the nation; healing the social and political divisions. The side that wins will breath a sigh of relief. The other side will not.
This will not be over tomorrow.
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Appreciate your thoughts. Where are you getting that I don’t think people are motivated by love of country though? Most people are but many are letting their hatred of the other side take over for common sense. A good number of people in this country are acting like the outcome will either be Nazism or Communism. It’s untrue, unhealthy and really a waste of emotional energy.
I’ll take your one month and raise you two… 😉
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Oh dear. I wasn’t questioning anything you said… just extending a further observation that the election is love of country inspired by fear. And to your reply here, to some voters on either side are indeed fearful that the end result should they lose will conflict immensely with their love of country. Love of country does not end with the election results.
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Indeed Doug, love of country does not end with election results. At least it should not but not sure that’s true of everyone.
Should be interesting to see the results come through.
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@Doug and Tricia
The article by Victor David Hanson was interesting. I will probably have to read it a couple of times. The gentleman is one of my favorite columnists.
One of the things that Hanson observes in his article is how our country divided before the Civil war. The two sides separated culturally so that each side did not have much empathy for or understanding of the other.
Why did they fight? The soldiers of the South fought out of a love for the South. They stopped fighting only when the saw the South being destroyed. The soldiers of the North fought to preserve the union, for the rule of law, and to end slavery. Both sides fought to protect something they very much cared about. So neither side was willing to yield.
Was either side wrong? Of course, slavery is wrong, and that peculiar, vile institution divided our nation. Today we have a similar problem. Half of our people, because we have educated them in socialist, politician-run, public schools do not understand American small r republicanism. They think democracy, majoratarian tyranny, is better. Instead of a republic, they want a socialist state. They would trade their God-given rights for the meaningless promises of politicians.
Still, I want everyone, even the misguided, to care enough to try to inform themselves and vote. I want people to participate in our republic. Apathy, indifference, is the great enemy of the soul, even the soul of a nation.
What we do not love, we will not risk anything to protect. What we do not care about, we discard in dumpsters and bury in landfills.
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Great comment Tom, would make for an interesting blog post.
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@Tricia
I suppose I could do that Monday. The battling over the close elections in Florida, Georgia, and Arizona are actually sort of scary. Democrats are becoming more and more brazen in their attempts to have their own way. The attempts to intimidate congressmen, cabinet secretaries, and conservative pundits reminds me of that incident before the Civil War when Representative Preston Brooks used a walking cane to attack Senator Charles Sumner. Representative Preston Brooks was not punished. Finally, however, Democrats went too far, and the Civil War began.
History does not exactly repeat itself. This time Democrats see themselves as the majority. Instead of seceding, my guess is that “resist” movement will become the “insist” movement.
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Ugh. Sometimes I wonder what planet you live on, Tom, ole’ buddy.
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@Doug
I live in a world full of human beings. Not one of us is good.
Jesus gave us a model prayer. Consider in particular verse 13.
The greatest thing each of us has to fear is that we will be tempted and give in to that temptation.
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It is getting scary Tom, especially if you dig in to the details of the Broward county election official now in charge of counting the ballots. It’s just insane that this woman is anywhere near such a process when she should be in a jail cell.
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@Tricia
Well, I am afraid too many people are afraid of being racists.
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Tom.. the average Conservative that exists on the political scene today is obsessed with Trump, the man.. and not just his agenda. What the heck is that all about? In my entire life I have never believed so mindlessly for one political leader in the way Conservatives love Trump. When I’ve suggested that Pence with Trump’s agenda I could deal with.. I’m immediately diss’ed as being some liberal against Trump. We can debate, we can compromise on Trump’s agenda… but Trump himself is NOT the nation’s Messiah. But I agree, Tom… politicians make meaningless promises but just because someone comes along and manages to make a couple promises true does not mean those promises should have come true. But that’s a whole other story.
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@Doug
My Savior is Jesus. Trump is just a man, and no man is good.
The average Conservative voted for Ted Cruz. We voted for Trump because the alternative was H. Clinton. When Trump started behaving like a Conservative, we were pleasantly surprised. That’s hardly a mindless reaction.
You have a blog devoted to Trump. If Trump owns anyone’s thoughts, then it is the thoughts of those people obsessed with getting rid of him.
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THAT I will agree with… and from my vantage point, if anyone agrees with Trump then you can’t avoid agreeing with the man or his methods. That being the case… I could most definitely question such a person’s patriotism. What pretty much doesn’t matter is how or why someone might have voted for Trump to begin with, but rather why they still support Trump given his record of performance to date.
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@Doug
What is wrong with Trump’s record of performance to date? All you ever complain about is his style, and I don’t see much wrong with that. Some of his tweets make me wince, and I wish he would fight Congress on the budget, but that is about it. For the most part, I see him doing much better than I expected.
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@ Doug, “the average Conservative that exists on the political scene today is obsessed with Trump, the man….and not just his agenda.” I don’t think you know many average Conservatives.
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Comment in moderation.
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Sorry about that Tom, just released it.
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Great post, Tricia. There is only one time in this country’s history where the losing side of an election didn’t accept the results and took the violent route. Over 640,000 lost lives later, the issue was settled. Is it possible this could happen again? Let’s hope not.
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Right Al, let’s hope not! Do you read Victor David Hanson at all? He wrote an interesting column recently on comparing today’s divisiveness to Civil War times. I’ll post the link when I get home.
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Here’s that link Al, https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/11/divisive-political-issues-immigration-race-globalization/
I thought it was an interesting read.
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Yes.. that IS an interesting read, Tricia. I would dispute the accuracy of some elements and interpretive influences, but by and large it’s a good analysis and I will hang on to this link. I think there is some not-so-subtle equating of the social and political pressures that led to the Civil War as having some relevance to now to speculate another civil war looming on the horizon… not just with this author’s article but some public speculation as well.
Here’s the important thing to remember about applying attributes of our American Civil War to the here-and-now. On the surface… if anything happens in the country even remotely to the scale of the Civil War.. it would be the end of America as we know it; we’d not recover to be the same country. Pretty much an American apocalypse. It worked back then because the rebellious states wanted to secede from the Union.. and they were all organized and centered in the South. Most important, the area was primarily farming rural. The actual fighting was the result of Washington D.C. sending troops to the South as a form of police action to quell the rebellion.
No one likely knows how any kind of civil war might erupt over our current socio-political mood but it surely would not be some Johnny-come-marching-home mustering of troops. At best, or worst it would be a guerrilla war against the central government… more like terrorism strikes.
I think I will make a post on this idea. Good link, btw.
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Thanks for the link. Enjoyed it!
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Al I was wondering if you were still posting because I don’t see any of your in my reader any more. You did mention you were going off WP I think, can you share the link to your site?
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Hi Tricia. No, I am still going strong and posting. Somehow, with my switch to self-hosted site (still with WP) you must have lost your follow selection. Here is the link now thecvillean.org. You may have to enter your name and email to comment but if you don’t want to it will just come through as anonymous and you can say who you are in your comment. Hope that doesn’t happen. Let me know. By the way, do you have an email that I could send you a private message?
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Cool, thanks Al, just sent you an email!
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Whatever motivates you to vote is immaterial to me. Just vote! As long as you vote a straight Republican ticket it shows you’ve done your homework and know how to vote properly. Besides you get a neat sticker that tells everyone you voted! Sets you apart from the slobs that don’t vote but yet complain about the government. : )
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Ha ha Dennis, I agree!
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Good post, Tricia. You’re riding the high road, getting the best views. To a better 2019 and beyond!
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I’m just being selfish Mike, it’s just a more pleasant road! 😉
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Pingback: CAN WE BRIDGE THE GAP THAT DIVIDES US? – Citizen Tom
Thank you for your encouragement. As I get older, having taught for over 20 years after many other employments, and now after a heart attack, I talk to more people about being aware, listening, and thinking for yourselves. Many people never question what they believe, unaware that they use emotions to drive their voices, yet the emotions were not of their own making. Why do you believe that?: I might ask students. Support your position with what you have heard, read, and what you have seen. Then attempt to understand opposing points of views. This is important. Discussions and debates are the heart of what brought our country forth. It’s not what’s being encouraged in many classes across America. No. Think for yourself, honestly. Then support.
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What a thoughtful comment Ryan, I totally agree. Thanks so much for coming by!
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🙂
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