You Might Help Make It, So Try Not To Miss It

It doesn't matter what side you are on. Your party's convention is over. Now that the house lights are up...

...the thousands of delegates who trekked across the country have returned home to do whatever it is they do when not dolled-up in sequined shirts, giant hats, novelty glasses, buttons for days, and other egregious fashion crimes that would result in societal banishment during any of the other 207 weeks of the quadrennial cycle.

...the millions of viewers who tuned-in to watch the endless coverage and analysis can finally restore order to their lives by getting more sleep, acknowledging their loved ones, and setting their DVRs to record important things, like sports, reality TV, and the season premier of HEROES.

...the countless who worked so tirelessly to construct and deconstruct the stages can, if they wouldn't mind, lend me the giant Democratic pillars to use as a backdrop for my annual State of the Household address, and lend me the massive Republican TV screen to use for what surely would be the coolest round of golf...at Pebble Beach...on the Wii...ever.

...the balloons have been deflated, as have the expectations of some. The confetti has been swept away, as have the dreams of others. But while you might lie there, still a little dazed and trying to remember how on earth you wound up in bed with THIS candidate, there will be no sleeping-off the hangover. It's time for a little hair of the dog...or the donkey or the elephant.

It doesn't matter what side you are on. Your candidate's campaign has begun. With less than 60 days to go...

...there are Sunday talk shows to appear on, scheduled when supporters should be at church. Poor God. First football, now this.

...there are commercials to produce, aimed at that 20% of the voting public who have not yet made up their minds. After something like 700 days of fast-forwarding through these things, NOW the undecided want to pay attention? We return you to democracy, already in progress.

...there are phone calls to place. Check that. There are computers to program to place phone calls, offering "go vote" reminders to the forgetful, making donation pleas to the generous, talking smack about opponents to the base, and causing unwanted cooling effects on meatloaf everywhere.

...hands will be shaken, Purell will be abused, speeches will be made, bumpers will be stickered, blogs will be written, blog spelling will be critiqued, debates will be held, debates will be overanalyzed, Fox will be accused of pandering, MSNBC will be accused of pandering, mud will be slung, and foul will be cried!

Then the day will arrive.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008.

Election Day.

It doesn't matter what side you are on. You will bear witness to History. This might sound like a no-brainer, but...

...as passionate and engaged people, some of things we write, particularly in the political arena, can be pretty intense. We love our guy and we hate their guy, and in our zeal to make our case, we write anything we can to advance our cause or attrite theirs. It's a way of operating that can become so focused, it isn't a case of forest for trees, but rather trees for leaves. As discourse becomes discord, and as the time to debate becomes the time to demean, we tend to lose sight of what is about to happen. Yes, yes. History. So the professional blatherers say; so long as my guy is on the winning end, the History will be glorious, we tell ourselves. But the glory of what will happen in November isn't just the History itself, it's the inevitability of it.

...this History is different than what usually awaits us at the start of each day. History never stops; it occurs and is recorded - on film, in print, in our minds - every minute that ticks past, but it does so with the specter of COULD looming overhead. You COULD get that big promotion, but you might lose out to a coworker; you COULD get up the nerve to ask that person from accounting out to lunch, but you might get cold feet; you COULD win the lottery, but you might wind up with a worthless stub and a perennial dream of retiring to the coast of Maine. Because of all of this uncertainty, because anything is possible, because so much is probable, because very little is definite, we stop paying attention to things, and in the process, we miss History as it happens, and only know it as a reference point in the past.

...this time is special. The specter of COULD doesn't know this time. We WILL have our first African American president this time, or we WILL have our first female vice president this time. Love him and hate her, or love her and hate him, History doesn't really care. History only knows that one of these two people, already History-makers in their own right, will make History one more time. One of these two people will not only stand on the shoulders of those who have come before them - one of these two people will stand with shoulders upon which future generations will stand. History will make it so, and we know precisely when.

It doesn't matter what side you are on. This is too special to be missed. So I ask you...

...between now and November 3, do what you will for your candidate - volunteer, donate, stump, pray.

...between now and November 3, focus on those leaves, rally your allies, attack your foes.

...between now and November 3, plead your case and defend your case with the passion of a thousand white-hot suns.

...on November 4, watch History unfold, and consider yourself lucky for having seen it coming.