My Watergate Coloring Book and the 2014 Election

I’ve heard all the excuses: “My vote doesn’t matter.” “I’m too busy.” “It’s not like this is an important election.” “Politicians are all the same.” All these excuses reflect a general discouragement with the American political process, and they are all accurate, in a way. But they are all also completely wrong, because they fail to grasp the most important part of election day. It’s not about “them,” it’s about us.

When Barack Obama was running for president six years ago, I was not on the Obama bandwagon. Like so many millions of Americans, I liked his rhetoric, his vision, and his proposals. But I was afraid of the bandwagon. Afraid that the very thing that was so exciting about Obamamania – the huge numbers of new voters and the incredible energy generated among young, minority, and women voters – would ultimately crash that bandwagon, and potentially the country with it. I feared what would happen when all those energized voters realized that Obama was not a superhero, and that the American political system – in all its messiness – would not yield to their vision of hope and change. Would their inevitable disillusionment lead to that powerful democracy-killer, apathy?

I am not immune to disillusionment. On the contrary, I grew up with it. Unlike many, maybe most Americans, I never had an “illusion” to begin with. You see, I had a Watergate Coloring Book. The first thing I knew about the president was that the president lied.  As an historian, I can tell you that every president has had their strengths and weaknesses, and all would fail when held to the Superman test, especially in a modern media circus.

So it is no surprise that six years after candidate Obama was elected President Obama we are facing a probable Republican takeover of the Senate. This country is about to hand the reins of Congress over to the very people who have been intent on deflating those lofty visions we held six years ago. And it will probably happen because all of those 2008 voters are too disillusioned to get out and vote tomorrow.

But that’s where the message failed. It was never about Barack Obama. It wasn’t about Michelle, or Hillary, or John McCain or Mitt Romney. It wasn’t about any of them. It was about us. It was always about us. And it still is.

Our great visions and dreams have been bogged down in the swamp that is Washington politics. But it won’t change by turning our backs on the swamp. And it won’t change by waiting for the perfect candidate to come along. But if we vote, in large numbers, we send a signal that we are done with it. That we will hold them – all of them – accountable. It will send a message that “We the People” demand to be heard, and we are not going away, not even in a midterm election year. And it will serve as a reminder that ultimately they are supposed to work for us – not the corporations, not the lobbyists. Us.

We are “We the People” and this election is about us. So please, take time from your busy day tomorrow, remember your dream of hope and change and “a more perfect union,” and please, go vote. Because this election day, it’s all about us.