Victors earn their turn, our patience

Some folks dread the words "President Barack Obama."

Some folks dread the words "President John McCain."

Some folks dread both prospects and brand Tuesday's general-election main event a lose-lose deal.

Picky, picky, picky.

Sure, as this campaign has dragged on and out, it has dragged down lots of Americans' opinions of Obama and/or McCain.

Sure, this Generational Smackdown has grown quite tedious.

But it still beats the heck out of the ominous prior alternatives of an Arkansas Grudge Match (Hillary Rodham Clinton vs. Mike Huckabee) or a Pretty Boy Faceoff (John Edwards vs. Mitt Romney).

Obama, despite his flaws, was at least a fresh voice in the scrap for the Democratic nomination, an uplifting speaker who has drawn lots of young people into the political process.

McCain, despite his flaws, was at least a relatively independent voice in the scrap for the Republican nomination, a man of rare courage both in and out of the political realm.

One of them will win Tuesday — and not necessarily due to voter fraud, racism, voter intimidation, ageism, collective voter insanity, sexism or the weather.

The outcome likely will be due to the record, dedication and political skill of the man whose triumph should earn him a fair chance to prove his backers right and his detractors wrong. Dire warnings aside, the outcome is unlikely to produce any long-term consequences that we can't eventually overcome.

Yes, Obama and McCain have made promises that they know they can't keep. That's only because they know that they must do that to win.

Why don't more voters know better than to make such irresponsible demands? Why don't more voters know that relentlessly rising spending and relentlessly falling taxes inevitably bankrupt government? Why don't more voters know who represents them in the halls of local, state and federal power?

Why don't more voters know that we'll muddle through even if Tuesday's victor becomes a presidential mess?

An exercise in timely reassurance:

Pick the past — or present — president you regard as the most incompetent of a frequently inept bunch. Replace, if you must, my pick with yours in this question:

Didn't we somehow survive Jimmy Carter's presidency?

Our presidents are administrators, not kings. They rule by consent of the governed, not decree of the gods. Their tenures are temporary, not permanent. Their power is limited, not absolute.

Competing candidates and ideologies take turns in running our self-government show. When one side botches its turn badly enough, the electorate gives the other side a new turn.

Those are our rules.

They work well.

Sort of.

So lighten up on your down-the-stretch, election-year angst. Be happy that we're almost done with the protracted, divisive, aggravating, presidential-race process until the 2012 version revs into an omnipresent roar in 2011 — or 2010.

Be happy, too, that lots of well-intentioned Americans are brave enough to take on the ordeal of running for office at much lower levels. They subject themselves to thumbs-up and thumbs-down verdicts from voters — and editorial boards.

Think you're tired of the eternal campaign?

Imagine how tired those candidates and their families must be. Yet they press forward, most of them simply because they think they can make a positive difference.

First prize for Obama or McCain includes commander-in-chief status over history's most awesome military force, a fancy residence, great food and world-class transportation.

First prize in most American political races doesn't even include a salary that covers office-serving expenses.

Nearly all of Tuesday's winners will, however, reap intensifying scorn from the masses over looming hard calls on budgets squeezed ever tighter by the ongoing economic debacle's impact on tax takes.

So root — and vote — for the candidates of your choice throughout the ballot Tuesday.

Root for whoever wins the Electoral College and the White House to win the popular vote, too.

Then root for the winners who didn't get your votes — including Obama or McCain if your guy loses — to prove that they aren't so bad after all.

Frank Wooten is associate editor of The Post and Courier. His e-mail is wooten@postandcourier.com.

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