Will the Long National Nightmare Be Over?
I early-voted in Arizona a couple of weeks ago. It was almost like praying. I spent a long time on the ballot, which was quite extensive–in Arizona as in many Western states there’s always a raft of ballot initiatives to consider, and judges though appointed initially must be retained in office by a vote of the people. I voted on every single one of the dozens of judges even though I knew little about most of them. I don’t think I ever relished filling out a ballot so much, and I was glad the early vote ballots are done by old fashioned pen and paper rather than voting machine. It’s a more tangible pleasure somehow to draw those arrows carefully with black ink to the candidate’s name.
A vote of the people. It really is a sacred thing.
This election is the opportunity to end the Bush era, possibly even to end the lockgrip the Republican right has had around the throats of us all for so long up and down the ticket–since 1980, really, when Ronald Reagan was swept into office on the promise of bringing good cheer and optimism to national leadership in contrast to Jimmy Carter’s depressing “malaise”.
The words of Gerald Ford keep ringing in my ears. When he took the oath of office after Richard “I’m no crook” Nixon resigned in 1974, he promised that “our long national nightmare is over.” And we all breathed a sigh of relief.
If Obama wins tonight, that’s how I and probably many of us will be tempted to feel once more. We will be tempted to breathe a sigh of relief and go back to our normal daily lives, checking our political interests at the door.
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Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women
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But elections aren’t over when they are over. In fact, the real work of governing will just be beginning tomorrow. If Americans keep their elevated interest in politics, and continue to participate–whether by telling the new president frequently what we expect of him, by finding a place for activism within a political party or on behalf of a candidate who was just elected, or involvement with an organization whose principles mesh with ours, or even deciding to run for office yourself, then not only can the long national nightmare end, but new dreams for a more just and fair America can, at last, once more begin.
GLORIA FELDT is the New York Times bestselling author of several books including No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, a sought-after speaker and frequent contributor to major news outlets, and the Co-Founder and President of Take The Lead. People has called her “the voice of experience,” and among the many honors she has been given, Vanity Fair called her one of America’s “Top 200 Women Legends, Leaders, and Trailblazers,” and Glamour chose her as a “Woman of the Year.”
As co-founder and president of Take The Lead, a leading women’s leadership nonprofit, her mission is to achieve gender parity by 2025 through innovative training programs, workshops, a groundbreaking 50 Women Can Change The World immersive, online courses, a free weekly newsletter, and events including a monthly Virtual Happy Hour program and a Take The Lead Day symposium that reached over 400,000 women globally in 2017.
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Yes, let’s new dreams for a more just and fair America at last once more begin, they will shine on the rest of the world.
Let’s American breathe a sigh of relief and go back to normal daily life. Let’s the long American nightmare be over!
Let’s Change!!