Do My Part

I think on this election night of reading the story of Abraham Lincoln's first election night as president. We did the Lincoln trail when Diane attended college in Sterling, Kansas. Mom and Dad bought me books about Lincoln at the stops and I also read many from the library. Lincoln's sons, in one of the books, sat on the gate posts, asking people if they wanted to see "Old Abe" for a nickle.
I just think how innocent those times were. Politics were dirty back then, maybe more than now. Yet, the President elect's sons could stay out in the evening dusk under torches and make a little money on the side.
A picture posted of the Obama family four years ago shows them sequestered in a room, watching results on TV. That is the only way I remember knowing election results. The first I had any interest in was Nixon/Humphry. Growing up in a strong Democrat region, of course, I was for Humphry. Actually, I wanted Lyndon Johnson because he looked like a grandpa. Lydon, as you remember didn't even try to run.
I could stay up on this night to watch the only thing on television, the election returns. A mock election in each classroom was held in my second grade. Nixon won in my classroom. Disgusted by the backers of the winners cheering and one boy's stomach showing as his shirt crawled up his fat belly as he put his hands together above his head, I thought I don't want to act(or look) like that.
I have been passionate about my politics. Years ago, it seemed we could argue, then still be friends. We loved discussing issues in classes, if we weren't too apathetic. Chevy Chase did a wonderful Gerald Ford, but we loved that grin the first time Jimmy Carter ran. He just seemed cooler than old Gerald Ford.
The 1968 election made the biggest impact on me, though. I wouldn't actually vote until 1979, but I kept up with the news. I loved the process and that we lived in a country where we had a choice.
So, it's too late to remind you to vote, if the twenty to thirty calls a day for the last week didn't remind you. I mean, honestly, didn't you want to just scream, "I'll vote, just don't call me!"?
The Facebook posts, pictures and down right nastiness at times couldn't let you forget either. The stories of how women fought for our right to vote just a few short years ago in 1920 moved me. How could you not vote?
But now that election is over, let's us pray together for whoever will stand with his hand on a Bible on January 20, 2013 and is the leader of this land. The president is a policy maker, a symbol for what the country stands. He can't deliver all that is promised. We need to pray for his wisdom. We need to read the Constitution to know the expectations for the president. And we need to be a country united in harmony. I promise to do my part. And that's not an election day promise.