The night before the election, I have a dream.
My dream is that tomorrow, one of the candidates — either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney — will win both the popular vote and the Electoral College by wide enough margins so that all the lawyers who are getting ready to challenge the results can pack up and go home.
In my dream, the party that loses the White House wins control of either the U.S. Senate or House.
That would mean that both parties would be responsible for our future, and neither could just say “no” over and over.
Because if one party did block everything the other wanted, they would know that the voters would throw them out in the next election.
And what would our new government do?
First, it would end the fight over budget cuts or new taxes, and recognize what every reasonable person sees: that we owe and spend so much that we need both!
Revenue hikes and spending cuts. The federal budget is over six trillion dollars a year, and we can surely spend it smarter.
In my dream, Democrats and Republicans respect each other, and work together to figure out how. The man in the White House is the President of the United States – not the Republican president, or the Democratic president.
I dream of common ground, and compromise, and a government that acts the way it's supposed to.
Is that a dream that will come true?
Probably not — but at least I can have it for one more night.