Please don't tell me!
(I emailed the following to family and friends after I got up this morning.)
Last night we all found out whether Barack Obama or John McCain will be our next president.
Everyone except me.
Yesterday, after casting my ballot, I was talking to a friend across the country who happened to be supporting the opponent of the candidate I voted for. She told me she was very nervous about the pending results and wasn’t sure what she would do if her candidate lost. I had heard similar things from others — some wondering if they’d be able to get out of bed, others worried they’d lose their faith in democracy and still others worried that there might be rioting in the streets depending on the results.
And to be honest, I had started fretting about our future as well, to the point that it was probably unhealthy. If my candidate won, I would be relieved, but what if he lost? How would I feel when I woke up today?
Which got me thinking: what if I never found out who won? What if I just went on living my life without knowing who the new president would be? I mean, we live in a 24-hour news cycle where we’re constantly feeding this beast — good guys against bad guys, your candidate against mine, with only our futures at stake — so it’s no wonder we get a little emotional about it. Would disengaging from all that make me feel differently?
I’m not saying elections don’t matter. They do. But I also think we allow ourselves to get so invested in them that we lose sight of the fact that it’s not the end of the world if our candidate loses. The sun will come up, the world will go on and the Rolling Stones will continue to tour. And conversely, if our candidate wins, most of the things they promised are not going to happen — or at least not as they envisioned them. Look at what Bill Clinton or George W. Bush pledged to do if elected (and what their opponents warned would occur); most of it hasn’t happened. In fact, if you look at ads from presidential candidates going back to the beginning of television, they’re all talking about doing the same things: expanding health care, improving education, changing the tone in Washington. And yet here we are.
So, for as long as I can, I’m going to live without knowing who won yesterday. Not because I don’t care, but because I think I care a little too much. And because I suspect that, as I go about my daily life, I’m not going to be able to tell one way or the other.
We’ll see.
I know it’s going to take some work (no television, radio, newspapers, or Internet for awhile) and I might be able to guess who won based on the moods of Obama or McCain supporters I know, but just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s not worth giving it a try. I’m also going to start writing about my daily adventures in electoral ignorance and try to talk to people about politics without discussing the candidates or the outcome, with an eye on turning all of this into a book about how we interact with our democracy.
So do me a favor and keep it a secret — at least from me.
Thanks.
Nathan
