We may have to sit tight to learn the final results of Tuesday’s midterm elections. That’s OK. At least they’re over.
And if the race for Kansas governor is as close as pundits predict, it’s also a good indication of broad voter engagement; another measure of a healthy democracy.
That’s the good news.
The bad?
This never-ending news cycle of elections has got to stop.
On Monday, national news centered on the Republican National Committee’s efforts to hold back former President Donald Trump from announcing his 2024 presidential bid before voting for the midterm election had concluded.
He acquiesced. Kind of. Instead, Trump said he’ll have a “very big announcement” coming next week.
Expect President Joe Biden to follow suit.
Political campaigns count on us to keep feeding at the trough because they’re enormously profitable.
It’s up to us to say hold on.
The ceaseless cycle has made us — and candidates — inured to the downward spiral of today’s politics.
Many elected officials have so identified with their party’s leadership that any chance of discussion is eliminated. If everything is black or white then any nuance is obliterated. And that can lead to voting against their conscience — and that of their constituents — in order not to be judged an outcast.
Either you’re with the party or you betray it.
If that kind of thinking is allowed to permeate to the local level then we’ll be set further behind in coming to agreement on issues that affect our schools, and local and county governments.
Today’s leaders can help tamp down the discord by raising the bar by:
* Trusting in the election process and accepting its results.
* Proving public service is a privilege by acting honorably.
* Being willing to hold their peers accountable for their transgressions, and
* Enacting laws that strengthen all of society, not just certain segments.
