Anxious.
I am anxious. I am transparent about my hope - and continued optimism - for a Biden win. But here’s the thing I’m not doing that’s different than some.
I am not crying “voter fraud!” because my candidate is not winning. I would expect and demand recounts, as allowed or mandated by long time state protocols, for close counts. That is fine, and I would not - and have not - begrudged candidates I have opposed calling for this in the past.
But even in the heat of intense disagreement and competition, the loser has accepted the final count.
And that is really, really hard to do when your candidate doesn’t win.
Ilustration by JXI Long about Trump watching computer screen with projected winner results ©JXI Long 2020
I was deeply uncomfortable and unhappy about Trump winning in 2016.
But I accepted his win. A win as something that, according to the protocols and processes and Constitition we follow, was legitimate. Not happy. But I accepted it.
I would not begrudge the Trump campaign from asking for recounts in close call states, per the appropriate processes.
I deeply begrudge, resent, and judge those who throw around claims of voter fraud and cheating as if they are somehow a direct consequence of their candidate being behind.
Election officials across the political spectrum have made clear for months of how hard they are working to ensure every ballot is counted. They have done so in the face of a President who has been insisting two things for months:
1. If he wins, it is a mandate and the American people have spoken.
2. If he loses, it is because of massive voter fraud, Democratic cheating, and widespread collusion.
He has been preemptive about this.
With no hard evidence.
Or soft evidence.
Or evidence based on anything other than his own echo chamber ecosystem quotation patterns.
So please: please please...if you voted for Trump and are hoping for a win, fine. I don’t understand, but I will accept that. I will accept your disappointment or anger or frustration or many other feelings you might have...but I will not accept unfounded, baseless conspiracy theories that are becoming increasingly wild - and yet, as I skip across some of my friends’ feeds, I am seeing the acceptance of these increasingly ludicrous reaches to try and match up indefensible statements with...SOMETHING, anything.
This is the process, citizens and people across the whole world watching us.
This is the process. OUR PROCESS.
Republicans, think back to not so long ago when you would have found the idea of you believing, let alone vocalizing, sharing, passing these indefensible theories along, ridiculous.
Ridiculous.
I believe so strongly that this country needs a different leader than the one we have now. I am still hopeful and cautiously optimistic. But I am also accepting and confident in the process.
Our process. OUR PROCESS. Yes,
we are good at this, even when it doesn’t go the way we want it to go.
So let the process finish. Let the ballots be counted. All of them that have been received under the individual processes of each state’s systems.
Let our names and legacy continue to be linked to the incredible and breathtaking way in which we peacefully transition from leader to leader.
Let us do that and honor the sweat, tears, blood that this country has gone through in creating the the incredible system of government - and voting - that we built on and have trusted for almost 250 years. It took a long time to enfranchise all voters.
Let’s keep it that way.
——
