The results from Tuesday’s election were disappointing to many people on campus, including those who worked tirelessly for days, months or years to help the Kerry campaign. While being upset is understandable, it is important to acknowledge this event as a learning experience and a turning point in our history. The Democratic Party has announced its commitment to redefining itself. Students should make a similar vow.
As the political balance of the country shifts to the right, we must work to understand the inhabitants of those mysterious red states rather than denigrate them. Although it is easy to claim that the 60 million Americans who supported President Bush on Tuesday do not understand what is in their best interests, this is not true. This election was a textbook example of the democratic process at work, and the Democrats were simply out-voted. As young, intellectual college students—a mobilizing force throughout history—we must take leadership roles in understanding people who voted differently from us and reconciling our beliefs with theirs.
Despite being in our New England bubble, we have much in common with the rest of America. Almost all of us believe in free elections, free markets and free expression. We also all firmly believe that our candidate was the better one. Furthermore, we all have certain issues that matter more to us than others. While improved campus dining, better housing and the removal of acceleration charges matter genuinely to the 3,000 of us on campus, these things do not exist for the people in the red states. We have a responsibility to take what we learn from fighting these small battles on campus and apply it to the issues that really matter. By doing this, we can question the sanctity of our own beliefs and bridge the obvious gap that exists between them and us.
If we happen to fear the coming Republican mandate, then we must fight harder than ever for the millions of Americans who cannot afford health care or textbooks and are watching their children die in Iraq. Do not wait out the term and hope the Democrats can field a better candidate than the Republicans in the 2008 chapter of the never-ending duel between red and blue. Let’s start understanding each other and decide what our country is really about.
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