A few quick thoughts on the morning after election day:
1. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday morning, there are still lots of votes to be counted in states that are still undecided or very, very close: Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona, and Georgia. We will know much more by the end of the day (about Georgia and Wisconsin and Arizona) but it will be the end of the week before we hear definitively from Michigan and Pennsylvania, and maybe North Carolina.
2. So far, there is no evidence of people voting illegally or fraud in vote counting. It takes time to make sure everyone's legal vote gets counted. All signs are that officials everywhere are taking the time to get it right. Of course, there are candidates and parties that are crying foul. But as the president himself once said, "That's just locker room talk."
3. This election clarified nothing ...except that we are a country divided and determined not to reconcile ...yet. It was not a watershed election. We are still caught on a fence and not able to move: half on one side and half on the other. The anger and fury has not yet run its course.
4. Elections force us to focus on personalities. Donald Trump would like us to continue to focus on his personality. But wise people on both sides of the divide know that we have to focus on issues instead. If you stop looking at a performer, you will take away 90% of their power, if not more. It is critical that we watch and read the news LESS, since it is entirely personality driven. We can still get the news, but filtered to let us learn more about issues. Whenever we obsess over personalities, (how bad Trump is or how bad Biden is, or how wonderful some of the other fifty candidates would have been) we regress. The Civil Rights movement taught us that we cannot keep our eyes on the prize if we are obsessed with personalities and battle losses. The prize is justice: environmental, racial, and economic. Those of us who thought an election victory would be the final triumph of good (e.g. that racism was finally conquered with the election of an African American president) have learned the hard way. Winning a battle does not mean that we have won the war against injustice. Likewise, losing a battle does not at all mean that either. Eyes on the prize, friends.
5. By the end of the week, when all the votes are counted, I think Biden will probably win the White House and the Republicans will probably control the Senate. Arizona, Wisconsin, and Michigan (with their outstanding votes) all seem to look good for Biden. The rest of the states will probably go Trump, giving Biden the narrowest win since George W. in 2000. Republicans will probably keep their seats in North Carolina and Georgia. And that will be enough for them to keep the Senate. But... I'm not clairvoyant. I'm waiting like the rest of you.
