How Much Abuse Can a Democracy Stand?

 

Over the course of my 46 years as a voting member of the American electorate, I’ve experienced the tension and suspense of presidential election night eleven times. Well, to be accurate, some were not really all that suspenseful (Nixon’s trouncing of McGovern by 23% or Reagan defeating Mondale by 18%) but who could forget the hanging chad nail biter of 2000 in which Bush was proclaimed President by the Supreme Court after having lost the popular vote by 0.5%?  But this year is different – I’ve never been consumed with as much dread of what lies ahead.