To say that I am emotionally, even physically exhausted by this election is an understatement.   This election has generated more frustration, wonder, profound astonishment, infused with lots of creative writing.  Heck, I made it into the hallowed halls of Huffington Post three times.   I have volunteered in ways I would never have imagined, spoken out in the fitness gym, in the grocery store, even in the sauna to perfect strangers -- about this election.  I feel as though I am addicted to CNN and Jon Stewart.  So I decided to sit down and determine what, if anything, I learned from this once-in-a-lifetime experience. 

Lesson One: Truth does not have the same definition for everyone.  What both baffled and frustrated me was how many people chose to listen to only what they wanted to hear, bending the truth to fit what they perceived to be reality.   The notion that someone could repeatedly tell one who they are, show them who they are, tell them again who they are….only to have the same people say “I don’t  really know who you are” tells me you just don’t really want to know, What I took away from this is that there are people who have a very clear view, in their minds, of who people are according to race, gender, physical characteristics.  When someone does not fit that view and, in fact, destroys that view, some become uncomfortable, some become suspicious, others become angry.  Because you now have to see them as they are, not as you want them to be.  And you can't pretend they aren't there, as you have in the past.  So you look for anything, anything to justify bending the truth.  How sad for those who choose that path.  Some time ago, I wrote a small piece about the concept of truth and its impact:  There are always at least two sides to every story. Somewhere in between is where the truth is hidden. Those who seek the truth, even when it is not what they want to hear, will live the most genuine life. Your decisions may be the same, but they will be based upon an unadulterated integrity. If there is a small voice inside you whispering questions, have the courage to seek the answers, lest your personal truth becomes counterfeit by omission. Decisions made, actions taken, judgments ruled -- sans listening to every faction with as much objectivity as humanly possible -- will always be based upon warped evidence, ultimately causing those who continue stand upon such flawed reality, to fall.   

Lesson number two:  For the right reasons, even the most passive American can be awakened to action.  Like Barack Obama or not, most will agree that he has had quite an impact on the American public.  Young and old, every gender and race, has got an opinion and have acquired a voice about this election.  Which leads to…

Lesson number three:  All of America now realizes that race in America is still a major issue in which there is plenty of room for growth. “Joe Six-pack”, “hockey mom” and “small town America” becomes code for the Anglo population that Palin is so approving of.  Most have been able to keep their racial points of view out of the public eye, but this presidential race brought the color of skin issue to every citizen’s doorstep, Race could not be dismissed, made invisible , or ignored. The repeated mantra, “I don’t know him.,”  has become another way of saying one can never really know a person of color, their genuine motives or if they are who they say they are, if they do not fit into the prescribed stereotypes that have been consistently, historically and politically socialized in the United States.   The use of labels – socialist (which in and of itself has a historical meaning when used to refer to African Americans), Marxist, Communist, terrorist -- all allow for the notion that confirms African Americans as a people who are always suspect.  This actually has historic relevance, as there has always been the myth that if three or more African Americans are together and talking, in a school, social, or corporate environment then they are plotting something.  Having had this and other anecdotal experiences, knowing others who echo similar experiences tells me that the paranoia and mistrust of others who don’t look like ”you,” is a pervasive stain on the fabric of this country.  Consider what might happen if you chose to change your mind?

Lesson number four: The public media does not have the journalistic integrity I assumed.  When I first heard terms like “corporate media” liberally sprinkled though out public commentary as the primaries began to collect steam, I actually had to dig and find out – much to my amazement --- who really owned who and how many of those corporations had millions of lobbyist dollars on the line in Washington, DC.  Watching news stations, as these members of the small society with the power of the mike began to inject their bias and the bias of their corporate employers.  With their bias came their personal opinions; upon the discovery of having one, they decided that because they were in control of the mike, they hatched the misconception that we needed to hear – repeatedly – what that opinion was.  True journalistic reporting went out the window as straight forward coverage of the facts turned into a game of I-got-next rhetoric, parsed with sensationalized gossip, sliced up and served as news.  Most of my favorites sources fell from their journalistic pedestals landing in the mire of the reality that they are all, in the end, just humans with prejudices, opinions, agendas and egos.  There are times when I found more facts on The Daily Show.

Lesson number five: Having a television show does not qualify your opinion as credible.  I found the eclectic mix of fact and funny on The Daily Show and the Colbert Report an interesting  take on truth.  Mostly because they knew how to support their spin.  Then there’s the View.  Elisabeth Hasselbeck is a loser from a reality show with absolutely no credentials that give any of her opinions credibility.  But because she is kept on the View (controversy sells in America, the fact that we don't like her allows her to keep her job) she actually believes her own hype and actually thinks people care about her opinion. Apparently she believes that if you repeat misinformation often enough, it becomes the truth -- which seems to be the current Republican strategy.   Cute sells ads, but one has to have something more to bring to the table, as time will prove out. I personally hope her fifteen minutes are about up. 

Lesson number six: This campaign has gotten people to talk to one another.  A friend of mine commented that she has engaged in conversations with more strangers of all races, ages and genders about the election.  I have to admit I never saw myself being this involved in politics, writing, calling, volunteering. Talking to strangers in the checkout lines at the grocery, the sauna at the gym, anywhere people are gathered for more than a minute.

Lesson number seven:  The Bible warns us not to put new wine into old wineskins because they will split.  As I watch state after state use their existing process of voting to accept and count a record number of votes, including my own state where I am actually working at the polls, I will not be at all surprised at the chaos that will likely result from trying to make old systems work with new voters.  Your best bet is to vote as early as you can.

Lesson number eight, you can’t double dip at a  party because you leave behind some really gross looking germs, ginger really does help with motion sickness and  refrigerated onions are less likely to make you cry when you chop them.  I learned this because I am exhausted by this election and watching Food Detectives on the Food Network is mercifully without commercials.

Get your Vote out today. By telling everyone that the race is basically over, the Republicans are hoping that the less motivated of the Democrats and Undecideds will think that it is not necessary to vote. Those of us who want Obama to win MUST vote. We can not be complacent, or else the lead will very quickly turn to a no point lead or worse.
This is all a political game. Some of us have a better understanding of it than others, and some of us (like myself) are still just trying to learn all of the rules - forgetting that there are no rules. Each side will do whatever is in their power (good, bad & ugly) to win this or any election. So the power we voters have is go out and vote