This thread is for partisan free election day wishes for the United States.


The last few months have been fairly bumpy ones as the country tugs over a hotly contested election.

I wanted to pause a moment to give thanks and the make a wish or two.

I am thankful and blessed to have been born in a free and wealthy country. Here the average person can live better than a medieval king. With running water, electricity, refrigeration, air conditioning, and automobiles we live in a land of bounty and comfort.

Our political system while flawed because it is run by humans was well crafted over two hundred years ago by James Madison and company.

I proudly voted to continue our tradition of a free political system again this year.

I hope that we can move forward as a people from this election and take the country with our good will into the future in such a way that we leave behind this legacy of a wealthy. strong nation for our great grandchildren. One where the government is stable, life is relatively easy, human dignity is aspired to, and the air is clear and the waters are clear.

Happy election day America. Thank you for all you have provided me and I pledge to invest my thoughts and aspirations to keep you going strong election after election.

edited to add an except from a poem




The Poor Voter on Election Day

May there be a clear winner, known by the end of the day and not contested. I do not want to see a replay of 2000, regardless of who wins it.

I can't really say I'm enthused about the choices. As the cover of Reason magazine put it, with pictures of Bush and Karry on the cover: "The good news is one of these guys will lose; the bad news is one of these guys will win." But at least we'll have some good news.

I have switched my radio channel between Air America and several of the Limbaugh/Hannity clones and am somewhat worried about how each side is trying to plant the seeds of suspicion over "RAMPANT" voter fraud and the obviously "RIGGED" election if they should lose.
The paranoia is close to BLACK HELICOPTER levels.
Peggy Noonan seems to be a flag bearer for this idea as I heard her on no less than 3 shows prophesizing the StOLEN election if the Democrats should win.
Air America is doing the same.

May there be a clear winner.

May the loser show true statesmanship and politiely concede.

I'd like to echo everything Eeyore said. We live in a great country, where sites like AD can exist and we, the US citizens, are free to vote for the candidate of our choice.

With all the flaws of her various leaders over the years, America continues to be a great country. Here, we have opportunities we take for granted that other countries can only dream of.

And remember:

Vote early, and vote often. - Al Capone

Just kidding!

Get out there and vote!!

Excellent topic, Eeyore, I had been contemplating starting something similar, but you both beat me to the punch, and phrased it much better than I would have.

For myself, I will neither gloat if Bush wins nor sulk if Kerry does. Either man will face an very difficult Presidency. I don't see the left relaxing their harsh stance against Bush if he wins, so he will face another divided constituency. Kerry would likely be elected with a minimal majority (some polls show a flip of 2000, with Kerry winning the EC but losing the popular vote), a vague plan of action, and likely an opposition Congress. There would also be the liklihood of the right decrying the election process much as the left did last time. Both men would face a very difficult scenario in Iraq which offers no quick solution, leaving little room for quickly reestablishing internation rapport. Outsourcing will continue, health care costs will continue to rise, we will face deficits until the economy gains more steam---not a very pretty picture regardless of who wins.

Given that, my fervent hope is that whoever wins receives a fair amount of bipartisan support. Their job will be hard enough without it--with it, we will just have four more years of rancor, with little to nothing productive being accomplished. No one wins in that scenario. So, I pose the following challenge to my fellow AD'ers--what will you do personally to make the next four years as productive as possible? Continue partisan bickering, or work towards effective solutions? While it is always easy to criticize actions, it is usually better to propose alternative solutions. That, I think, is how how system is supposed to work.

My feelings on Election Day haven't changed since first voting, back in the early 1970s.

We get to vote. That is very cool, and no matter what flavor of democracy we have or others have, voting is perhaps the greatest single act of exercising freedom in the true sense of the word: not just doing what one pleases, but becoming involved with the political process directly, and as everyone else in the country expresses themselves (those who vote).

It does my old heart good to read and hear the reports of long lines at polling places that never had long lines, or any lines, before. Participatory democracy works at this level. It also works at many other levels, but this is a more public thing, a more shared thing. This time, the energy seems high. It has been high for the last two weeks with early voting, but today is the climax.

A couple of hopes:

People remain more involved in our government from here on.

People do more thinking for themselves than letting conventional wisdoms rule.

I have a whole chest of other hopes for this country of ours, but not enough space or time to list them here. They're in the posts on AD.

On an emotional level, I can get teared up on this day. We have a great country with great people, great ideals, great lands . . . and I can also get angry. We'll just ignore the angry part. It goes away, a hobo riding the rails. The pride stays, a home.

Good luck to everyone on Election Day - the voters, not the candidates. It's one of the best things about being free - being able to take part in the decision of how you want your country to be run.

Democracy doesn't make us better than other people - it makes us luckier. Being free isn't something you get for being good, unless you personally have worked to become free. Day's like today are things to be thankful for, not smug about.

One of the (few) good things that seems to be coming out of this rather unedifying campaign is that it looks as though the turn-out will be higher than in recent years, perhaps much higher. One way or another, the divisions that have been exposed seem to have energised the electorate. IMO, high turn-outs in free elections can only be a good thing.

As to the result - well, that's beyond my tiny scope of influence. I could kid myself that my scribblings on here might have made some posters or visitors think harder than they otherwise would have, but that would seem unlikely, given the strength of opinions most people have before they come to sites such as this.

So I'll limit myself to saying - I hope you get the government you deserve. (Democracies always do.)