This week marked another election day come and gone. And now the post-election blues start settling in. Some of your candidates won. Some of your candidates lost. The ballot issue you feverishly toiled over may have gone down in flames or the one that nobody gave a chance may have shocked everybody and passed. But in any case, the hype and excitement seem to have vanished into the void.
Of course your attention may have been on larger events in Virginia or New Jersey and not so much on the local fare. You may be reacquainting yourself with the current nuanced terminology of the political prognosticators such as bellwether, harbinger, and precursor - terms that lay claim to a knowledge of the political future that none actually have that use them.
But the real question for each of us after November 2 is: Now what?
Regardless if you were pleased with the results, disappointed, or had mixed feelings the real question is where do we go from here. For those who won their council races, school board races, etc. the answer is generally pretty clear. Govern.
Do the job your constituents tasked you to do. Seems simple enough, right? Let’s talk in a few months on that and see how easy you think it is then. None of you has an easy job. You will never please everybody. In fact, if you try you will only achieve the opposite. You have a vision. Work for it.
For those of you who came up on the short end of the results do not be discouraged. Stay involved. There are people out there who gave you something very sacred on Tuesday: their vote. They trusted you and believed in you and your cause. Stay in the game. They need you. We need you.
For those who lost on ballot issues it’s time to step back, assess, analyze, and reassess what happened and where to go from here. How do you reframe the issue, find alternative methods of funding, or make a better case that the voters can relate to and adopt as something they need? For those who prevailed it is time to implement and realize the dream for which you have striven and campaigned.
Whatever side you may have come down on in this election remember that campaigns are over and the real work begins.
And take solace in the fact that another election has come and gone without revolution, the democratic process still works, our republican form of government is still in operation, and we all still have the privilege of living in the greatest nation on the face of the earth.
Kevin Grantham, Commissioner District 1