Hope on the eve of an election

“Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

“I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head.
I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel. A free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain.
I hope I can make it across the border.
I hope to see my friend and shake his hand.
I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams.
I hope.” -Shawshank Redemption


Well it's election eve and nobody knows what tomorrow will bring. I'm full of hope- the hope of someone who would find unexpected joy in an upset. But mostly I pray that there's no violence or fraud or doubt about the outcome. The office of the Presidency has fallen in the eyes of many. We have been here before and will be again but before that cold January inauguaration I hope that the people's voice will be counted and heard.


"I'm happy. I'm feeling glad.
I've got sunshine in a bag.
I'm useless -but not for long.
The future is coming on." -Gorrillaz

Record voting numbers are good. They say my generation, the offspring of baby boomers, isn't political. Maybe that's true. We don't have much faith in a political system that only elects the wealthy, the hard edged and hardened survivors who make it to election day. Mine is a generation that concentrates on the details, issue by issue, and doesn't expect one candidate to personify a ideal. We are political in a less grandiose way. Here in my town the most active town councilor is under 35.

If I learned anything working on political campaigns it's this: Don't discount the people. Don't discount the belief that ours is a country still worth emulating. This is our home for our families and those to come. We may not tear it down but a little reconstruction is okay from time to time.
The beacon on the hill may dim but won't go out anytime soon.