Over the weekend, the Washington Post editorial board continued warning that the stakes in Tuesday's election are much higher than usual, calling it a "once-in-a-generation event."
This hyperbole is fueled by panic over President Trump. The left sees tomorrow's election as a lifeline. So, they drone on and on about how this is the most important election in the history of elections.
The Post says this election is "about something more elemental: what kind of country Americans see today and want to see in the future. That makes these midterms unlike any in the recent past."
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Actually, it makes these just like every midterm election of the past two centuries. This election is definitely important, of course, but here's the thing – every election is important.
One of the reasons the Post claims it is so alarmed is that our nation's values are at stake. They may be right about that, although you can't course-correct values with an election. The values crisis runs much deeper than that.
On Saturday, there were two examples of this stark contrast in America's values. On one hand, actor Pete Davidson made fun of Republican U.S. House candidate Dan Crenshaw of Texas. During a sketch on Saturday Night Live, Davidson mocked Crenshaw's eye patch, which he wears because he lost his right eye in 2012 after a bomb blast during his deployment in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, also on Saturday, 39-year-old Brent Taylor was killed in Afghanistan when a member of an Afghan security force opened fire at a U.S. base in Kabul. Taylor was serving there on his fourth deployment with the National Guard. He was the former mayor of North Ogden, Utah, and leaves behind his wife and seven children. Taylor said his life was oriented toward three loyalties — to God, his family and his country.
So much of life is about choices and perspective.
In his last Facebook post on October 28th, Taylor wrote:
As the USA gets ready to vote in our own election next week, I hope everyone back home exercises their precious right to vote. And that whether the Republicans or the Democrats win, that we all remember that we have far more as Americans that unites us than divides us. "United we stand, divided we fall." God Bless America.
So much of life is about choices and perspective. As America makes its choices tomorrow, we'd be well-served by a lot less panic and a lot more perspective.