Kingmaker Ohio

Yesterday my dear colleague Tessa invited me into her 10th grade English class to, as she said, “tell us what this whole election thing means to America.” Tessa is a South African, a doyenne of the independent school world, a veteran world-traveler, and yet, she said, “I do not know what to make of this Electoral College thing.” So I went into Tessa’s class to demystify the Electoral College for them (she doesn’t know this, but my mother’s college senior thesis was on the Electoral College—I guess it’s in my DNA!). I spoke to her 19 students about how the Constitutional Convention of 1787 came about after the fairly disastrous years of our newly won independence in those not-so united states. How fun to explain to them—without any false modesty—the supreme importance of my home state of Ohio. If you have watched any news analysis at all, it does come down to those 18 prized electoral votes from my Buckeye state. We discussed how candidates spend almost no time in 29-vote New York, or 38-vote Texas, or even 55-vote California. We briefly pitied 3-vote Vermont. I tried to explain it is not just because I hail from Ohio…but we know…the kingmaker swing state of Ohio, perhaps just a few counties actually, may determine the vote in this presidential election.

Today I put together a special Election Day outfit for school! (Just in case you have not been made fully aware of how eccentric I can be!) I had on a bright red shirt (in honor of the red states) and blue trousers (in honor of the blue states) and a $3 tie I bought in New York’s Battery that has the words of the preamble of the Constitution, an image of the U.S. capitol, and a blindfolded Lady Justice…go American Justice and Democracy!! I had to explain my outfit to a few people.

I had to explain my outfit in part because there was not the buzz and excitement around campus today about the Election Day in the U.S. that there was in 2008…the mood was not really subdued, just pretty unaware and/or blasé. In 2008 there was considerable buzz and excitement here. We had made plans for people to watch the final returns starting at 5:00 a.m. our time in the Dining Hall. If you remember, over 80 students got up to watch (that was half of the boarders at the time!) The U.S. Embassy had a glittering party at a fancy hotel in Amman on Election night. I never got an invitation to a party this year from the Embassy. Maybe I sang too many show tunes or patriotic songs in 2008, I don’t know. But I looked in The Jordan Times today, and on page 3 there was a smallish story headed by, “Many Jordanians indifferent to US election outcome.” The article was about as lackluster as the responses from “ordinary Jordanians.” Essentially, everyone quoted said the same thing: sorry, just not interested. They did not marvel at the phenomenon of democracy, and even though it is the print media, you could practically see the shrugging and grousing with the lines, “Whoever wins, it’ll be the same foreign policy anyway.” Some of those interviewed called Election Day, “a charade,” another “a sham.” It came down to this general consensus from those “ordinary Jordanians”: “it will be the same for us.” What they mean is that they have seen it long enough to know that United States policy will be about unconditional support for Israel. “They will be on Israel’s side no matter who is in office,” said an IT professional. A salesman lamented, “All I know is they will enforce Israel’s unfair policies against the Palestinians.” As veteran politician Tip O’Neill once noted, “All politics is local.” Tip got it right.

Well, it’s not 2008 here or anywhere else. In 2008 our election invigorated Jordanians because they felt there might be a change in the air for issues near and dear to their hearts. But you know, my ardor for Election Day is undiminished—I just understand the political thing a little better.

I had a great talk with one of our foreign exchange students from China. I learned as usual far more than I might have “dispensed” in talking with him. First of all, I learned that the Chinese people my student knows are utterly fascinated by American democracy. He said that a pop star scored a hit in Beijing by talking about the Electoral College for 33 minutes! Did Tessa try and wrangle him for her class??

He explained that interest in US presidential elections is unusually high in China this year because Americans are voting at the same time Beijing is going through its own political transition. A generation of Communist Party leaders will step down next week to make way for younger leaders after a highly secretive selection process.

The student compared what he thought about both systems and their approach to the upcoming political transitions. He told me about a popular political cartoon in China where an American voter covers his ears over all the endless droning campaign ads on TV, while a Chinese man struggles to hear anything from the party congress taking place behind closed doors. He marveled that Americans get to select their own leaders. He reminded me that to the Chinese their own leaders were distant figures whom they have no way of replacing.

Wow. What a reminder of something I have never worried about. We squabble and call names and throw out words like, “evil,” “Nazi,” “idiot” and on and on, but oh, do not forget—we have the power of the ballot box! It may a flawed system—of course it is, but we have a semblance of something, and as the words from 1787 attested, we are working toward “a more perfect union.” I hear Martin Luther King, Jr. words, “I may not get there with you, but someday…” I explained to Tessa’s class who could vote in 1800 and then compared it to 1900 and then to 2000. I talked about demographic changes, about “American Exceptionalism,” and the wonders of pride and the pitfalls of hubris, and I said what my friend Doris Jackson always reminded her students, “Please vote—it is more than a right. It is your obligation—people died for the right to vote.”

My friend from China said the internet has changed everything. They now get more than “state-sponsored propaganda.” They can learn more, see presidential debates. Oh, but then the conversation took a turn. He noted that admiration for the US political system does not necessarily extend to the US itself. They worry about how the US tries to manipulate the Chinese economy and “scold” China.

Campaigns feel like an eternity somehow—but in the next 24 hours there will be a change. Elections will most likely be decided. The rancor will soften. We will accept the verdict of the voters. And most importantly, there will not be bloodshed in our streets over the election results. There is nothing I treasure about America more than these two glorious days in the Fall: Election Day and the sun breaking over a violence-free acceptance.

Speaking of fall days—today I got that special package I have come to treasure every fall. My friend Margot sent me my fall leaves! Margot was a Gap Year fellow in 2007-08 here and in that first autumn away from autumn leaves we confided to each other how much we missed the turning of the leaves. Next autumn, when she was beginning college at Williams, I got a special package in the mail with gorgeous autumn leaves from Williamstown. Every autumn since Margot has remembered and sent me some leaves. What a treasure (both Margot and the leaves!)

As millions go to the polls today—god bless ‘em every one—they will decide on the candidate and party which they feel understands their community and concerns. They will pick leaders in which they find their allies in peace and justice and progress. They will elect the ones who they think will make America better, stronger, smarter and more just. What a wonderful thing. What a patriotic duty!

Okay, it is bedtime here in Jordan, but oh, the night is young for me! In a few minutes three teacher friends are coming over. We plan to stay up all night, biting our nails as we watch the returns on CNN and MSNBC here on Jordanian TV. We will welcome in the dawn awaiting the news from across the pond.

What will my native state of Ohio do? What will Kingmaker Ohio show us in the next 12 hours?????????

Go put on your red, white, and blue and celebrate! I’m cheering from thousands of miles away!!