The shouting is over. The crying from the losing campaigns will stop in a day or two (except from my local city councilwoman who was turned out because of her inability to understand that her government credit card was not for her personal use).
As a nation, we are fortunate that we have an opportunity to correct our course every two years. And Tuesday, there was a resounding call for a change of direction.
As I watch MSNBC show me a clip of the President having a chat with the next Speaker of the House of Representatives and the presumed House Majority Leader, I recall the 1972 movie, “The Candidate,” starring Robert Redford.
In this movie, a young political novice (played by Redford) is asked to be the Democratic challenger to an incumbent Republican Senator from California. In an amazing upset, the Democratic candidate wins a stunning victory, but also makes some personal compromises along the way in order to win. As the movie ends, the camera pulls back as Redford asks his campaign manager, almost as a plea, “What do we do now?”
Winning should not be confused with victory, any more than effort should be confused with results or results with success. As a nation, we spoke and said collectively we were on the wrong path. My political party has two years to demonstrate that their new path is better than the old one or as a nation; we’ll make another national course correction. And that one I fear will be just as severe as 1994 (or 2006).
But for today I will rejoice that the junior senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia is a Navy Cross winning former Marine. I had the opportunity to meet and work with him when he was the Secretary of the Navy twenty years ago. And that brings a big smile to my face.