Visibility: 0.25 miles

On the afternoon of Monday, November 4, I made sure that Trinity Hall was ready for the precinct volunteers.

At 4:30, they were coming to set up the hall the way it needed to be for election day.

I had six tables and twelve chairs out.

This would be the first presidential voting that had been held at our church since we became the precinct for the Rollingwood neighborhood in western Henrico County, Virginia.

On Tuesday morning, I had to have the building open by five. That gave the precinct volunteers an hour to make sure everything was ready for the voters at six to enter Trinity Hall to cast their votes.

I didn’t sleep well. I kept thinking about what would happen if I overslept.

Just before five, I had the building open.

Since this was my voting precinct, I opened up my office. I checked emails, and shuffled through some papers.

A few minutes before six, I went back down to Trinity Hall. I walked outside and joined the line with other early voters.

It wasn’t long before I was checked in. I was directed to a voting booth.

I carefully marked my ballot. Next, I walked a few steps and inserted my ballot into the machine that recorded my vote.

Then I made the two block drive to our home.

With a temperature of 56 degrees, I decided it was a good morning to go for a run. I always jot down in my running journal the current weather conditions from the Richmond airport.

On most mornings, the visibility is ten miles. Today, the visibility was 0.25 miles. Fog covered the east end of the county.

A gray overcast ceiling hovered just above the tree tops in Rollingwood.

Back on Sunday morning, November 3, I went for a run. I was sluggish. It was like my legs and brain were out of sync. I wanted to turn back.

By body didn’t want to go. I kept trying to nudge it out of this resistance. Some of that reluctance might have been because the last day that I had gone for a run was on October 20.

But on this important Tuesday morning, my body was more cooperative. My route would be to run the 5K course that starts at our church. I ran the course in a reverse sequence.

It was a damp morning. The humidity reading was 97%. A calm wind allowed for a coat of stilled moisture on every surface.

A palette of autumnal colors from the tree leaves temporarily replaced the sun on this gray day.

I wondered how America would be on Wednesday morning. I hoped that we would not be dealing with post-election turmoil.

For a long, long, long, long time America has been struggling.

Without doubt, we are facing multiple challenges within our borders, and troubling challenges outside our borders too.

Regardless of those challenges, and regardless of who becomes our president, it is foolish the amount of money that has been spent on this election.

National Public Radio was one of multiple news outlets that reported these findings from Open Secrets, a group that tracks election spending.

For the 2024, federal election, Open Secrets estimates that nearly $16 billion was spent. Four years ago, the amount was $15 billion.

I’m sorry, but $16 billion spent on an election is wrong.

How can we fail to see this?

But, there is something worse than the $16 billion.

Through the manipulation of fear, misinformation, and complete neglect for the truth, the Grand Old Party’s presidential candidate has eroded the dignity and integrity for the office of president in our country.

Why can’t we see this?

I’m a flawed and imperfect human being.

America is a flawed and imperfect democracy.

Jon Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize winning author and historian. During a lecture at the College of William and Mary in April 2024, Meacham stated: “If democracy were easy, everybody would be doing it.” (W&M Alumni Magazine Fall 2024)

At this stage of my life as a rapidly aging and excessively grumpy old geezer, I think Mr. Meacham is correct—there is nothing easy about a democracy.

And yet, I also believe at this moment, the heart of the shortcomings of our democracy are captured in this quote from Helen Keller: “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

I wonder if we are capable of regaining our vision to find and live the last six words from President Lincoln’s first inaugural address—“the better angels of our nature.”

With regard to our democracy and America, I pray our divided souls find “the better angels of our nature.”