Unless you purposely go out of your way to avoid seeing anything political, we are right in the midst of the election of our lifetime. According to both sides this could be either the end of democracy as we know it or the continued erosion of our liberty and freedom.

It’s not hard to pick a side as both parties have pretty much drawn a line in the sand as far as what the other party represents if they gain the presidency. Maybe they are right but if you’ve been through more than a few election cycles, you know that this is the common denominator: Scare tactics and attempting to activate as many passionate voters as possible is what will get people out to vote.

We know that there are voters who won’t be swayed no matter what they see, hear, or experience. The election for President usually comes down to what the talking heads call the independent voter or the undecided. Because politics is intriguing for some of us, we know that if this is accurate — the next President of the United States will be decided by about nine million voters. If you’ve followed your vote over the past several elections, you know that some races come down to a few thousand votes. That’s why your vote is more valuable than ever.

We all make decisions about who we want to represent us, our values, our hopes and our dreams for our future. Elections have consequences and that’s why we can be so passionate about who we think deserves our vote. In our two-party system the person who represents the party we choose to vote for might not always be our first choice but when we make that choice this November; we are choosing who we think best represents what we value the most as a political leader.

I’ve never thought that when I fill out the ballot that I’m voting strictly for the person because we all realize that the system that makes our republic function is based on a series of trade-offs, deals and compromises. Often we think that this type of maneuvering is crooked, deceitful and corrupt and we formulate some kind of unrealistic expectation of those who are tasked with trying to make things happen in a atmosphere designed by our forefathers to make things happen slowly, deliberately and with the most amount of compromise.

Both candidates for the highest office in the land have their weaknesses which are trotted out on an hourly basis in the most demeaning and contemptible fashion but should the candidate decide to “play the game”; they are held up as not fit for office. It’s a difficult proposition for anyone who has to both maintain their integrity, attract attention and carve out a position that clearly differentiates them from their competitor. Just about every political commercial you see is expertly designed to attack the candidates, get you charged with emotion and make assertions that are mostly hyperbole.

Decent people have room for views they don’t agree with and practice patience with those whom they disagree with because they know that while we want our candidate to win; we likely won’t be living in a communist gulag or an economic wasteland regardless of who is elected as our next President. Decency demands that we all figure out what we agree on in our Republic so that whoever becomes the next leader of our country will be able to govern without riots, violence and tearing each other apart because that is what will truly destroy our Republic.

You, like me, appreciate all that this country has made possible and we want it to continue on into the future for our children and all the people that we care about. Vote for who best represents your strongest beliefs about how our country should be governed and then we figure out how to get along so we can go along as we head into our future. We will either be together in hate, division and isolation or together in understanding, patience and cooperation.

See you around town.

Lance Scranton is a career educator and has made his home in Moffat County for the past 26 years. He offers his views and opinions as part of the ongoing conversation about our community, country and world. Reach him at lance.scranton@consultant.com.