Today is Judgment Day, the day when the Democrats are widely expected to retake what some have argued for the last six years was stolen from them in 2000, and again in 2004, namely, their voice and participation in the running of the US government. What followed were six agonizingly painful years of Republican dominance and ham-fisted governance, which are now hopefully at an end.
As good as this notion may feel for some, I for one, even while being cautiously optimistic, am not holding my breath, even though I am a staunch Democratic Party supporter and personally hopeful and delighted at the prospect that the Democrats will prevail tonight.
So, why this cautious approach you may ask? Well, as a student of history, despite my outer-layer of optimism, I am also painfully and somewhat alarmingly reminded of the words of either Stalin or Lenin who may have been right, even prescient, when he remarked that it is not the ones who vote, but the ones who count the votes that really matter. And judging by the heightened sense of national paranoia over the upcoming “counting” in this election, as witnessed on the evening news ever since Karl Rove uttered the phrase “I have the math,”I would venture that for all the Democrat gains that most recent polls are indicating, the doubt, uncertainty, breath-holding, and nail-biting, which has become a hallmark of the last three US elections, will be in full swing until midnight on Wednesday morning, when the polls have finally closed and the losers have conceded to what I hope will be gracious winners on either side.
Please don’t misunderstand. The essential question is not: Is it a forgone conclusion, or is the election showdown on Tuesday night worth watching? This still remains to be seen, but what I do suspect is that this will be one of the most closely monitored and watched elections in American history, and I, physically far removed from events in Washington and across the US, will have no choice but to count myself among the watchers.
There are those who maintain that the 2000 election was hijacked in Florida, the 2004 election fixed in Ohio, and a subliminal fear that the suspicious coolness and confidence by which Mr. Rove and Co. are greeting this upcoming slug-fest, despite all the polls predicting an overwhelming loss for the GOP are a cause for much alarm. Then there are those others who maintain that the Republican election machine has finally tapped itself out, that Rove will finally fall from grace, and permanently lose his “genius” status, in addition to losing what really matters, his personal guidance of the Republican grip on US policy and affairs, both national and global.
This in itself is sufficient cause for me to keep myself glued to the TV into the wee hours of the morning monitoring the electoral process and progress in key states and races which will determine who will be the party in power on Wednesday morning. This is high drama and possibly the farthest reaching live television at its best, as like minded individuals across the entire globe will tune in to watch events and results unfold.
But why should that be? I’m not alone in expressing this sentiment. Why should this election matter to non-Americans? Why are the hopes and fears of virtually an entire planet hanging on a congressional race in Virginia or New Jersey? Is it that we, non-Americans with an experience of America and all that comes with it, have watched with dismay and sometimes downright disbelief the direction in which the US has evolved during the Bush Administration? Is it that we who once firmly held that the US, its constitution and what it represents, was the latest and greatest experiment and bastion of human free will, choice, and self determination, now stand aghast at what we have seen in the erosion of liberties and freedoms of the very foundations of that almost sacred edifice? Is it that we, who once looked upon America as an operative model for the world, now cower in apprehension and fear at the thought of a Republican America pontificating and issuing summary judgments on issues of morality and righteousness, or even worse, attempting to lead the world through the worst possible examples of outright international deceit and national betrayal?
For those of you who still have not recognized the importance of this election, fair warning; this is your future, the future of your children and the future of your planet on the line; not that you can do anything about it, but you can certainly observe it.
So yes, I will watch the election coverage tonight in the silent hopes that this nightmare which began in Florida in 2000 will finally end. And for all of my American colleagues and friends here and around the world, no matter on which side of the political aisle, I wish you a healthy, clean and restored election process free of vote rigging or voter intimidation or allegations of manipulation. Free of pregnant and dimpled chads and last minute Diebold voting machine crashes or lost voter logs. Free of court decreed winners, certain in its validity and results, no matter what the outcome; and may the best men and women win.
Bring on the vote, and bring on the count.
— Haani R. Nowilaty is an independent author. He is currently a Human Resources Officer at the National Commercial Bank, having served at Saudi Arabian Airlines for 14 years also as a senior HR and executive division officer.
