The Cost of Democracy

(I'm a few months late posting this one!)

It’s been almost a month since we watched the US presidential election with interest.  I thought Governor Romney would have made a fine president.  I believe he has unique business experience and education that could have helped America at this time.

But the majority chose to re-elect President Obama, who also has many great presidential qualities.  I hope his policies and promises will improve circumstances for our neighbours to the south (though I’ve been enjoying the exchange rate the past few years).

Our democratic system allows us to elect those who share our ideas on what government should be doing (or not doing) for the people.  We research, we campaign, we argue, we vote, we wait…  Then we mourn or rejoice.

What comes next is the part I don’t like:  the mud-slinging and criticism.  If they lost, why kick them while they’re down?  If they won, they are now elected officials deserving our support.

I’ve been disappointed at some of the phrases used to describe the election and Mitt Romney, like “crushing defeat” and “cloudy future”.  The swing state percentages were very close, and being only 3 million out of 120 million (roughly) away from winning the popular vote doesn’t sound like a “crushing defeat” to me.  And if someone of retirement age who is independently wealthy and surrounded by a large and loving family has a “cloudy future” then what does that say for the rest of us?

Governor Romney spent a lot of time, money, and energy to give Americans a choice on the ballot.  That alone is worthy of praise, not scorn.

Whether American or Canadian, we should thank all who run in municipal, provincial, and federal elections – including those who lose.  If we don’t, we may find the cost of democracy is that no decent candidates will want to run in the future.