Election Day, November, 1884
by Walt Whitman
If I should need to name, O Western World, your
powerfulest scene and show,
'Twould not be you, Niagara--nor you, ye limitless
'Twould not be you, Niagara--nor you, ye limitless
prairies--nor your huge rifts of canyons, Colorado,
Nor you, Yosemite--nor Yellowstone, with all its
Nor you, Yosemite--nor Yellowstone, with all its
spasmic geyser-loops ascending to the skies,
appearing and disappearing,
Nor Oregon's white cones--nor Huron's belt of mighty
Nor Oregon's white cones--nor Huron's belt of mighty
lakes--nor Mississippi's stream:
--This seething hemisphere's humanity, as now,
--This seething hemisphere's humanity, as now,
I'd name--the still small voice vibrating--America's
choosing day,
(The heart of it not in the chosen--the act itself the
(The heart of it not in the chosen--the act itself the
main, the quadriennial choosing,)
The stretch of North and South arous'd--sea-board
The stretch of North and South arous'd--sea-board
and inland--Texas to Maine--the Prairie States--
Vermont, Virginia, California,
The final ballot-shower from East to West--the
The final ballot-shower from East to West--the
paradox and conflict,
The countless snow-flakes falling--(a swordless
The countless snow-flakes falling--(a swordless
conflict,
Yet more than all Rome's wars of old, or modern
Yet more than all Rome's wars of old, or modern
Napoleon's:) the peaceful choice of all,
Or good or ill humanity--welcoming the darker
Or good or ill humanity--welcoming the darker
odds, the dross:
--Foams and ferments the wine? it serves to
--Foams and ferments the wine? it serves to
purify--while the heart pants, life glows:
These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships,
Swell'd Washington's, Jefferson's, Lincoln's sails.
These stormy gusts and winds waft precious ships,
Swell'd Washington's, Jefferson's, Lincoln's sails.
Walt Whitman was passionate, fervent (note the Foams and ferments) and Election Day has always been Big News.
Things don't change and do change: "The final ballot-shower from East to West" ok. But it's now become CNN's "final voting hour" with multiple millions of viewers tracking results from East to West.
"The Heart of it not in the chosen---the act itself the main, the quadriennial choosing" is only partly true.
Today the stakes are planetary. It's not just the touching idea of everyman, everywoman engaged in the quasi-reverent ceremony of The Vote, the Big Show and spectacle observed minute by minute by Americans and non-Americans alike.
It's that we are witnessing two very diverse philosophies, and the potential outcomes.
It's that we are witnessing two very diverse philosophies, and the potential outcomes.
I confess I used to be a bit more cynical about party differences, committed Democrat though I am, but there's something stark here.
Romney would bring a terrifyingly constricted world vision to the presidency, along with the corrupting influence of huge money: run the country like a business, look at me and try to do as I have done, live as I believe you should live (at least this week), look at my smooth, prosperous smile, trust me and don't worry that I don't know a damn thing about foreign policy.
It'll be a cliff-hanger, but Barack Obama will be our president for the next term.
