No, this isn’t a report made walking through the some-spots-somber-and- some- areas- jubliant halls of Congress. I am not hiding behind a marble column waiting for sad Democrats to pass by. I am sitting at my dining room table, in my pajamas, about a mile away from where the aftermath of last night’s election is taking place.
I won’t lie. I caught a smug grin adorning my face when I saw the results of Florida-24 called early, confirming that Suzanne Kosmas would be exiting the stage after only one term. This one was kind of personal; this was the woman who beat my boss, Tom Feeney and cost my office mates and I our jobs.
Imagine choosing a team to root for, then joining that team, putting on the uniform, and watching the opposition try to shove your captain’s face in the dirt. You retaliate by waving a sign on the street corner. This is kind of what working on the Hill feels like. You pick a side and before you know it you are doing everything you can to strengthen your guys and stick it to the bad ones. But with politics, people are on opposite sides not for reasons like “My high school is better” but for actual reasons that matter. It is because in their heart of hearts, people find a reason to stand up for something: Taxes are too HIGH/A woman has a right to CHOOSE/We HAVE to win the War on TERROR. It is a fire that gets in the belly of each active citizen and suddenly it becomes personal. And for those that make their (meager) paycheck by it, it sometimes means that you have to pack up and look for other employment.
At the end of an election, it is natural for the winners to feel jubilant and the losers to feel like they should move to Canada. Elections are a swinging pendulum, and so at some point, everyone will have smiled and everyone will have looked into purchasing a heavy winter coat.
But this is what I wish: I wish that we’d just cut the crap and work together on areas where we can compromise and agree to disagree on areas where we can’t. I wish that politicians would legitimately unpack from their power trips and focus on discussing good ideas. I wish for an arena where the minority party isn’t shoved in a proverbial closet but is given a chance to speak. I wish for a time where if my taxes are going to go up then I can see the taxes I am already paying being put to good use and not wasted away. I wish for the President to recognize that he needs to be the one to lead others in working together.
I think this is ambition is simple, but lofty. The right to freely disagree is part of what makes America unique, but also part of what will likely ensure that the pendulum will live up to its name and one day swing again.
