In the Aftermath

okay, now the campaign was over, and McGinty: you're back on the card list.

During the campaign I shilled for my guy, because I believed he would have been the best choice. I still believe that. Its possible that I always will.

But I also believe there's a difference between partisanship and patriotism. Senator McCain himself mentioned that his former rival will now be his president, and thats the reality. We owe it to our country, and to our party, to unite in respect for the office of the president, and to give our new leader the benefit of the doubt.

We Republicans actually have an enormous amount of power. President-Elect Obama can reach out to heal party divisions, and I hope and expect that he will. But unless we, the loosing party, is willing to meet him halfway, nothing will happen. We can be bitter and let our wounded pride fester for four years, or we can take an active role in helping to move the country forward, and participate in what will be, unquestionably, a historic era.

Additionally, we have an enormous advantage over our liberal brethren, who expect this newest of leaders to end the war, fix the financial crisis, reform the tax code, and provide affordable health care to all. The faithful left-wingers have set themselves up for a degree of disappointment, whereas we don't expect much of anything constructive. So we, if we are open enough to allow it, have the capacity to be pleasantly surprised and delighted.

Back to McGinty: you, Stella, are my personal pick for Patriot of the month. Many of the rest of us have it easy, because our party espouses most of our values, and the ones it doesn't aren't a big deal anyway. You, on the other hand, seem to have spent a good deal of time carefully considering your options, so as to give your vote, one of the most precious gifts (along with life and love) that you can grant, to the individual who truly best represented your personal hopes, dreams, and needs. That, folks, is the root of democracy, and the truest expression of what it means to be an American. In this election, plenty of people voted specifically so they could tell their grandkids they voted for the first black president. Plenty voted because they hate the way the country was going and figured someone new had to be better. Others voted for a candidate primarily to keep the opposing party out of the White House. I personally think voting, for whatever reason, is morally superior to not voting. But in the hierarchy of reasoning, a vote for someone you truly believe to espouse your ideals is the greatest vote. Its an enormous statement of trust and faith: "go, take my personal endorsement, wear my colors into battle, champion my cause for me, across the globe." The greatest moment in all of politics is when a voter takes time to carefully look at choices and weigh options, and Stella is my sterling example of this one.

Although to be fair, I am filled with pride, as a political scientist, for all of you blog-readers, for your degree of awareness and activism. You run the gamut, from the one who rabidly espouses conservative causes with a fiery passion,to the one who voted one way but was always very clear-headed about the benefits and positives of the other side, to the one who carefully ran the numbers to choose which candidate, out of two who fell out almost equally in terms of values, he should, stastically, vote for. A shout out to the young, but highly informed, voters of my acquaintance, proving that the right wing is not a party of old, rich, men. And congrats to my varied associates who did vote for the now President-Elect. All around me I see a group of thinking voters, of political activity and awareness, and that, far more than financial bailouts or strong foreign policy, is what ensures the bright future of America.