Paul Kendall:
Proud To Be an American

In prior election years, as I have sat across the table from persons of different political persuasions counting the ballots in Braintree, I have been struck by two thoughts. First, how civil and relaxed we all were at the conclusion of a contentious and hard-fought political process. And second, how thoughtful the voters appeared to have been as they picked their way down through the ballot, in many cases supporting candidates of different parties and candidates located at different points on the political spectrum.

This year I expect that I will help count the ballots again, and I am sure that I will have the same two thoughts.

Civility, trust, freedom of choice, and the ability to choose based upon the personal character of the candidate rather than upon his or her party affiliation. How rare it is in this world to enjoy such luxuries? They are uncommon treasures, even among many so-called democracies, and we should cherish and protect them.

And now, even though the electoral outcome is not yet completely known as this copy goes to press, I am beginning to reflect upon the future of our country after this election, and I am struck by two additional thoughts. The first is that the ideological debate over the future direction of our nation is far from over. The slim majority for either party in Congress will mean that we are still a divided country. But the second thought is that despite this division the public’s clear desire is for us to remain a united country.

Yes, there are fundamental and divisive "wedge" issues—terrorism, Iraq, abortion, and the role of religion in education, for example—that need more discussion and that may never be fully resolved in complete harmony and consensus. But as important as these issues are, they are on the margin of significance compared to the spirit of community, to the commitment to vigorous debate, compromise, and majority rule, and to the protection of minority rights that we all share.

Yes, we as a country sometimes act at home and abroad in ways that stray from our best values, and we as citizens frequently abuse our electoral responsibility by failing to exercise our freedom to vote. But we do not tolerate the deceit of our leaders or the tyranny of the ideologue for long. Nor do we easily accept the abuse of power by the majority. Instead, we have faith that, given time, our political process will see us through to moderation and reason.

Now is one of those moments in which that faith can be realized. At the close of this electoral cycle and before the heat of the next presidential campaign scorches public discourse in about a year, we have a brief period of opportunity in which the political center can come together across party lines in Congress and deal with the truly substantive domestic issues that confront our future: deficit spending, immigration, social security, the environment, and health care. This is not a time for gloating, recriminations, partisanship or retaliation but for attention to real issues and to good governance.

Yet even if Congress remains deadlocked and the present partisan divisiveness continues for another two years, the most significant outcome of this election for me is that, whether or not our preferred candidates win or lose, we are willing to affirm that the President is still our President and that America is still our beloved home.

Paul Kendall, a semi-retired private investor and resident of Braintree, has traveled widely and lived in South America. He spent last year in Washington, D.C., studying U.S. foreign policy at American University and focusing on issues of national security and U.S.-Latin American relations.