It’s been eleven days since the 2022 “Midterm” Election here in the United States. For the most part, it went the way the experts and pundits and pollsters thought: Republicans win the House of Representatives, and Democrats keep the Senate. There were certainly a lot of twists and turns this Election season; for a while, it looked like Republicans were headed for a “red tsunami,” then the Supreme Court made their ruling on the “Dobbs” case, which motivated more Democrats; then late in the season, everything balanced out, the economy didn’t get much (any?) better, which put Republicans back in a position to win at least the House and possibly the Senate.
My aunt and I made a bet as to how it would end up; I said the Republicans would win the House, 237-198, and the Democrats would hold the Senate at 50-50; she thought Republicans would win the House 253-182, and the Senate, 52-48. We were both way off on the House prediction (the Republicans did win, but by a much slimmer margin than either of us would have guessed, and there are still five races that have yet to be called); as for the Senate, there’s one “runoff” election next month that will determine whether it’s 51-49 in favor of the Democrats, or a 50-50 hold (in which case Democrats still win).
I was pleasantly surprised at how relatively little tension there has been since the Election; for the most part—except for one Republican candidate for Governor and a Democratic candidate for Congress—the loser graciously conceded and everyone moved on. That’s always good to see, and hopefully it signals a return to “normalcy,” for lack of a better term; often when an election is won, people on the winning “side” celebrate and rub it in the faces of those whose candidate lost; that’s not how it should be, when you consider that the people who get elected to office, are supposed to be there to serve, not rule.
That said though, it was still a very tense few months leading up to the Election; people on every side have been angry. Many of them put their heart and soul into the campaign. They spent countless hours and dollars in support of their candidate, and for some, it even affected their well-being; I lost count as to how many times I saw someone on Twitter say something like “my anxiety is through the roof [over the Election].” Imagine being so worried about whether your guy wins a very temporary position in the United States Congress/Senate, that you lose even a wink of sleep over it, or thinking that the other party winning would somehow mean disaster. We also would hear on social media, “Vote (red or blue) to ‘save America,’” as if this election is the last chance, despite the fact that these are temporary positions; the winner takes office for 2, 4, or 6 years (Congress, President, Senate, respectively), and then if their constituents aren’t satisfied, or want to go in a different direction, they get voted out and someone else takes their place.
Truth is, neither Republican nor Democrat is going to save America. When President Eisenhower took office in 1953, his left hand was on two Bibles, one of which was open to Psalm 33:12: “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD.” This nation continues every day to go further and further from the LORD, even though he is the only one that can save.
I tend to be Conservative; anyone who knows me, knows that about me. But at the end of the day, whether the President/House/Senate is “conservative” or “liberal,” has very little effect; life is much, much bigger than what happens in Washington. For some people though, that’s all that matters. The Psalmist writes, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes (Psalm 118:8-9 NIV).” Perhaps the reason so many people in this country are angry around Election time every year, is because they are putting their trust in princes (meaning, Presidents, Congresspeople, Senators, Governors, and so on), who are bound to fail them, and there doesn’t seem to be a way out. Remember that the same God who made the mountains and the stars and the seas, and you and me, is still on the throne. He was on the throne when Joe Biden became President last year, he was on the throne last week when this country held its Election, and he will still be on the throne tomorrow, and every day after that. The day will come when the LORD will be King over all the earth; in that day there will be one LORD, and his name one (Zechariah 14:9). Amen!
Grace and peace,
Dan
Dan Gaitanis 