I remember attending a staff retreat at Five Oaks Centre in Ontario in 2008. The US election was on and we were all listening to hear if John McCain or Barack Obama would be the next president of the US. As the evening rolled on, it became apparent that Barack Obama was going to be the new president. Many of us were excited. His message of Hope had inspired us. But one person in the group reminded us that Obama would have a tough job to do. The global financial crisis was beginning. There were many difficult times ahead. It would not be easy to bring the country together.
I think the same holds true of any party running for office. All parties establish some sort of platform that they feel will best suit the country. They point to weaknesses in the other side and and try to show that they are the best choice. If one wins the election, the government, no matter if they have a majority or a minority standing in the legislature, how best they can enact their platform. Winning an election is one thing; governing is the other.
Things are very heated right now in the US. Election buses are getting hijacked. People are getting threatening letters saying that if they vote one way or the other, dire consequences will happen. People are already on edge about COVID, Black Lives Matter, and other matters. No matter who wins, how will these wounds be healed. Or will the winner just govern to please his supporters and forget about the rest who didn't vote for them.
No matter who wins, I think all of us deserve peace right now. We don't need more division especially with things like COVID facing us. Whoever is elected tonight, needs to bring folks together and not split them apart.
