Acceptance of the midterm outcomes is the best victory of all
We didn’t see the much-anticipated “crimson wave” of Republican victories in midterm elections, nor did we see a “blue wave” of overwhelming Democratic wins. The newly elected Home of Representatives and Senate stay intently divided between the 2 events, with Democrats holding onto their Senate majority and the Home majority nonetheless undetermined.
What we did see was a “crimson, white and blue wave” of victories for American democracy. That’s excellent news for us all.
By a “crimson, white and blue wave,” I imply an acceptance of election outcomes by defeated candidates and their supporters. All of the dropping Democratic candidates and many of the dropping Republican candidates have conceded defeat. I hope the holdouts will settle for actuality quickly.
Fortunately, the midterms went easily and have been freed from violence. The massive enhance in mail-in ballots on account of the pandemic slowed vote counts in shut races in a number of states however didn’t have an effect on the accuracy of the outcomes.
As President Biden mentioned the day after the elections, “it was an excellent day, I believe, for democracy.” He continued: “Our democracy has been examined lately. However with their votes, the American individuals have spoken and confirmed as soon as once more that democracy is who we’re.”
I do know full effectively that no candidate desires to lose an election, nor do his or her supporters. I’ve skilled the bitter ache of defeat and shed loads of tears when my efforts to elect Democratic candidates have failed, most notably once I managed Vice President Al Gore’s presidential marketing campaign in 2000.
However regardless of a particularly shut race, Gore graciously conceded defeat to George W. Bush, simply as each dropping presidential candidate in American historical past did — till President Donald Trump in 2020.
With out the acceptance of defeat by election losers, America loses. That’s as a result of if we are able to’t settle our variations on the poll field, the one different is to settle them with bloodshed. Simply take a look at the struggling we’ve skilled previously two years due to Trump’s false claims that he was reelected in 2020 in a landslide, which thousands and thousands of his supporters nonetheless imagine.
Trump’s election lies incited the Jan. 6 lethal assault on the U.S. Capitol in an effort to overturn his defeat — a defeat confirmed by greater than 60 court docket selections. Republican and Democratic election staff, authorities officers and candidates have confronted demise threats and assaults ever since, far too quite a few to checklist right here.
For instance, in late October federal legislation enforcement companies warned in a bulletin that “perceptions of election-related fraud and dissatisfaction with electoral outcomes seemingly will lead to heightened threats of violence in opposition to a broad vary of targets ― reminiscent of ideological opponents and election staff.” Democrats weren’t making these threats, however some Republicans have been.
Happily, violence didn’t escape throughout midterm balloting however on Oct. 28 authorities mentioned a person who embraced Trump’s election lies broke into the San Francisco house of Home Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) with the intention of breaking her kneecaps. Police mentioned that upon studying she was not house, the person attacked Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband Paul, fracturing his cranium and badly injuring his proper arm and palms.
Nonetheless, Trump’s election lies proceed. After the U.S. Senate race in Arizona was referred to as Friday evening in favor of Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, Trump posted on his social media platform: “Fool, and presumably corrupt, officers have misplaced management of the contaminated Election in Arizona. MACHINES BROKEN IN REPUBLICAN AREAS. A NEW ELECTION MUST BE CALLED FOR IMMEDIATELY!” There isn’t a fact to those claims. Kelly gained completely legitimately, simply as President Biden did in 2020. However Trump refuses to simply accept his loss and has mentioned he by no means will.
Sadly, Trump has shaken the religion of thousands and thousands of People within the integrity of American elections. A Monmouth College ballot revealed in September discovered that whereas 63 p.c of People “imagine Joe Biden gained the 2020 election honest and sq.,” solely 28 p.c of Republicans do, in contrast with 64 p.c of independents and an amazing 95 p.c of Democrats. This partisan divide is harmful.
And in one other disturbing improvement, no less than 220 Republican candidates who questioned the 2020 election outcomes have been elected within the midterms, whereas no less than 120 misplaced, The New York Instances reported. However on a optimistic be aware, all of the Republican election deniers operating to turn into the highest election officers in swing states have been defeated of their races.
Because the late Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan of New York mentioned: “Everyone seems to be entitled to his personal opinion, however not his personal info.” Democrats and Republicans won’t ever agree on all points, nor ought to they, however we want People of each political persuasion to simply accept the factual final result of our elections. In any other case, our democracy stays in grave peril.
America survived a Civil Warfare that broke our nation aside. It can take time, however I’m assured we are going to survive the divisions Trump has sowed. Let’s all do not forget that way more unites us than divides us and that fellow People we disagree with are our adversaries, not our enemies. And let’s dedicate ourselves to fulfilling the promise of the Pledge of Allegiance and really turn into one nation “indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
Donna Brazile is a political strategist, a contributor to ABC Information and former chair of the Democratic Nationwide Committee. She is the writer of “Hacks: Contained in the Break-ins and Breakdowns That Put Donald Trump within the White Home.”
