Election Day
06/11/12 05:23
It isn’t hard to become cynical about elections. It seems like it has been a long time since a candidate gave a reason to vote for him or her. What we hear are reasons to vote against the opponent. It is hard to associate with the process of elections because of the millions and millions of dollars that are spent. South Dakota, like many other states is flooded with out-of-state money each election season. It seems that our candidates have to bow to the money sources in order to compete. Then we wonder if there is any independence left in them once they get elected. The nicest, most genuine and sincere person seems to end up distracted and beholden to other interests by the time that person gets elected. The national races are decided in a few “swing” states. The candidates ignore states like South Dakota, whose voting pattern in a presidential race is fairly easy to predict. Our Electoral College votes are taken for granted. I heard of a South Dakotan who called a presidential campaign office in Sioux Falls to obtain a yard sign and was told that the office really existed only to work the campaign in nearby Iowa.
It isn’t just the negative ads, which are disturbing enough on their own. It is the conviction, held by candidates of both parties, that lying works. While they claim to tell the truth, a simple check of the facts catches an alarming amount of just plain lying in political rhetoric. It is not just a false portrayal of the opponent, which is common enough. Candidates distort the truth about virtually every aspect of our culture and society. It is no mystery that we don’t trust our political leaders. Trust has to be earned.
Then there is the shift created by early voting. There really isn’t a single election day any more. People can vote by mail and fax in some states. Here the polls have essentially been open for weeks as people are able to vote absentee without really being absent on Election Day.
For whatever reasons, I have chosen to wait until today to vote. I still like the mood of going to my neighborhood fire station to cast my vote in person. The people who volunteer to staff the polls are my neighbors and those waiting in line are familiar to me. I plan to vote near the opening of the polls this morning, so I expect a short line to vote as I join others who are voting on their way to work in the morning. Were I to take a break in the middle of the day, I would be able to walk right in and vote without any wait at all. We don’t really have that many people in our precinct and a lot of us will be at work in the middle of the day.
Still, I feel that voting is important. I have a sense that it is a privilege and a responsibility. My track record at voting is pretty consistent. I am honored to cast my vote in each election.
Over the years, I have cast a lot of votes for candidates who did not win. Although I feel connected with my neighbors, I often vote differently than the majority. I feel no need to be counted with the majority. I am very careful to consider the issues that are most important to me. I also try to carefully consider the interests of the entire community.
A bit of the cynicism remains, however. It seems to me that people who speak as if they are selfish are just as likely to vote against their own self-interest as anyone else. People will say they are concerned about the deficit and vote for a candidate who advocates unlimited spending in part of the budget. People will say that they are concerned about security and then vote for a candidate who engages in foreign policy that makes the country less secure. People will say that they are in favor of small business and then vote for a candidate that is beholden to big business and ignores everything that is small. We humans are a strange lot.
Of course there is nothing very innovative in our behavior. The book of Exodus is filled with stories about how the newly freed former slaves keep rejecting the God of freedom. After God clearly demonstrates that the road to freedom is based in faithfulness, the people immediately begin looking for shortcuts. Over an over again they choose to limit their own freedom. Within the span of Old Testament history our people go from the oppression of Pharaoh to the oppression of corrupt kings who are more interested in the consolidation of wealth and power than they are in justice. The prophets call the people to return to faithfulness and the people ignore the needs of the widows and orphans in their midst.
The story of Christianity is also filled with demonstrations of faithlessness. Jesus gives every reason to reject worldly goods, but there are many examples of the church seeking wealth. Jesus rejects the trappings of rule-based theology but his followers construct a church filled with rules as if salvation were a matter of following rules.
It is a simple fact that we often are inconsistent in our behavior, in our allegiances, and in our decisions.
In less than two hours I will have completed my voting and will get on with my day. Despite my best intentions, I’ll keep checking the computer throughout the evening for news of the election results. I’ll wake tomorrow and check the close races again. I do care. But I have lived long enough to learn that our democracy is stronger than any one candidate or any single election. Our nation can survive the election of a less-than-optimal leader. Even when partisan politics brings the legislative process to a near halt and our government becomes sadly dysfunctional, we can still reach out with compassion and work together to help our neighbors.
I will vote with my ballot today. And the rest of the time I will vote with my behavior. I will not be elected. I’m not running. But I will serve. That is my vocation.