Election day, 2012. I don’t know what to expect, although it is probably safe to say that after today about half of the country will be ecstatic, and the other half will be angry and bewildered. The real challenge will be for the victor to reassure us all that the hope for our nation is that we have millions of decent people of many persuasions, and that by their working together we may yet have a national legacy worth bequeathing to our grandchildren.
Perhaps the most hopeful signs when we went to the poll this morning was seeing a young black man seated at the table with the two veteran election workers, checking our photo IDs, recording our names, and assigning us our voter numbers. His Tshirt said Kutztown University Student Volunteer. Youth and diversity, the future of our nation requires them both. The other hopeful sign was the number of people waiting in line to vote. Large voter turnout, a democracy requires the participation of its constituents. Regardless of the election results, those were good omens.