Tens of millions of Americans will head to the polls today. Tens of millions have already voted. At stake, the White House, Congress, and here in Mississippi, several key judiciary races.
Cumulatively, billions of dollars have been raised and spent. The cycle has been marred by several extreme outlier events, including the post-primary replacement of Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee and multiple assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
But by and large, Americans and their short attention spans shrugged those things off quickly, eager for the next outrage or gaffe.
As polls close across the land tonight, it will all be over but the crying…and the tabulating…and the lawsuits…and the protesting. Hopefully, there is no violence or mayhem.
But whatever happens today, your neighbor is still your neighbor. Even if they voted for someone you would not have, your neighbor is not your enemy.
Unfortunately, in so many ways, society has been conditioned to think of political power as the ultimate prize and to think of “the other side” as undeserving of respect, understanding, or quarter.
But Jill with MAGA hat has reasons for what she believes. So too does Joe with the Harris-Walz sign in his yard. They both have values, aspirations, and fears driving their decision. At the end of the day, they both want good things for themselves, their families and their communities.
The truth is that if we were living up to the original design of our government, today’s election would have little impact on our actual lives. The presidency, and even Congress, were never supposed to possess the kind of power they’ve claimed over our lives.
It’s okay, and even healthy, to passionately believe in a candidate or set of issues. It’s okay, and even healthy, to vigorously debate and defend what you believe. It’s just worth remembering, that based on history, the outcome of this election — either direction — is not, in fact, an existential threat.
Even with all of the tricks of D.C., making policy in closely divided government is hard work and bad policy can be undone. So vote today and don’t be a shrinking violet in defense of what you believe to be right, but don’t lose yourself in the process.
A Little Mississippi Election Lagniappe
Last night, I was looking at presidential endorsements from inside of Mississippi. Members of the respective parties largely lined up behind their party’s nominee for president. As an example, both Brandon Presley and Congressman Bennie Thompson have been very vocal advocates for the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris.
All of the Republican statewide elected officials, except Michael Watson, have endorsed Trump (Watson is running the election as Secretary of State, and as such, did not endorse any candidate). Likewise, almost all Republican legislators endorsed Trump, with three exceptions.
According to lists released by the Mississippi Republican Party, House Medicaid Chair Missy McGee, who spearheaded efforts to expand Medicaid this past session, abstained from making a Trump endorsement, as did Senator Brice Wiggins. Wiggins previously drew attention for his response to Donald Trump’s conviction for falsification of business records in New York, writing at the time:
The third exception was Senator Jenifer Branning, who is running for the Supreme Court and is not permitted under state law to make endorsements.
Magnolia Tribune CEO Russ Latino will be on WJTV tonight with election coverage at 10 PM and on MPB Think Radio with MSNBC political contributor Elise Jordan at 10 AM on Wednesday. Magnolia Tribune Editor-at-Large Frank Corder will be doing election night coverage on WLOX with break-in segments at 7, 8, 9 and 10 PM.
Russ Latino
