Stark contrast

If we focus on positions and values and continue the work of expanding the ability to vote to all who qualify, we can be confident in the outcome of the election that is less than 3 months away.

Now both major political party conventions are in the books, the contrast is about as stark as can be.

One party emphasized grievance, anger, and a return to a mythical, non-existent past in which those who are now aggrieved and angry were somehow safely in power.

The other emphasized a joyful future that is intended to include everyone in its embrace, lifting up one and all.

Personally I was struck by First Lady Michelle Obama’s speech, and in particular her emphasis on the values passed down from mothers to children: hard work, responsibility, self-discipline, contributions to the community. The credit to mothers is a lovely antidote to the female-blaming of the other party, and it also echoes the values preached by the Republican party in the past.

Interesting, that the current Republican party has ceded those positions to the Democrats, all as a result of the R’s cult of personality around a so-called leader who shuns hard work, avoids responsibility at all costs, trashes self-discipline, and centers selfishness over community.

So here we are with less than three months to the election, and we will be inundated with horse-race type coverage. Who is ahead in the polls, who is favored in the swing states, who makes a gaffe or scores a point.

None of that is useful. Focus on the positions, values, and attitudes each leader asking for your vote represents. What matters is what they will do, not how they score on polls.

If we maintain that focus, and continue the work of expanding the ability to vote to all who qualify, we can be confident in the outcome of the election.

If we lose ourselves in “who can win,” we might just lose the election, too.

Let’s do this, together.