The American Psychological Association recently released a survey indicating that 2016 presidential elections pose a significant source of stress for most adults nationwide.
The APA indicated that adults born from the 1980s to mid 1990s are even more stressed about elections than Baby Boomers like myself. Up to 59 percent of women who are born as Millennials say that this election is a very or somewhat significant source of stress.
Half of Baby Boomers felt significant election stress. Forty-five percent of people born after, into Generation X, felt stressed about elections.
Most everyone is thankful that this election is over. What a horrendous campaign season – it’ll take a bit to recover. Maybe you as the candidate won. Congratulations. There are significant challenges facing our county, state and nation. It’s soon time to govern.
As a candidate, the election was never about you. Your name was on the yard signs, on the ballot, on all those mailers and commercials that flooded the mailboxes and TVs. It feels very personal, but it wasn’t about you.
We voters elected you to represent us.
Yes, all of us.
Soon the candidate-elect’s job is to represent even those amongst us who are their most stringent policy critics. Apparently the best bills enacted into law can withstand strong critique. Those bills likely took bipartisan courage to enact into law.
When you as our candidate-elect head to Helena or Washington, D.C. to be sworn into office, don’t forget about us. We voters sent you there to do our work. You represent us: to balance our budget, conserve our way of life, keep us safe, and generally make life better.
We did not send our candidate-elects to the Legislature or Congress to do nothing. Get some work done, be bipartisan, and cooperate. We voters invested our taxes and pay your salary, health insurance, travel, lodging, meals, and state or federal retirements. We deserve some results.
A decade ago, as a freshman state lawmaker, one big lesson upon arriving at the capitol was figuring out that not everything my party promoted was necessarily good in the district I was sent to represent.
It takes tremendous courage to cross your party leadership on the big stuff. One can find the woodshed with the future of their pending legislation on the rocks.
In my time, Republicans like Rep. Harry Klock bluntly told his leadership on the floor of the House that if they continued to withhold his veteran’s bill in committee, he would rip his desk off the Chamber floor and plant it onto our side of the aisle. That bill passed.
In a subsequent Legislature, Republican Rep. Walter McNutt boldly told his colleagues on that same House floor to quit scaring our constituents and quit letting us look like a bunch of buffoons.
We’ve endured enough stress this election cycle. Give us a break over the holidays and figure out a game plan for the upcoming January legislatures. Then while in Helena or Washington D.C., work together like citizens and neighbors.
There’s plenty of work ahead in Helena to assure that current double-digit property valuations don’t translate into double-digit property tax increases for Flathead Valley homeowner. People living in their homes have been waiting a long time for some Legislature to fix it.
There’s plenty to do in D.C. to assure that the proposed double-digit health insurance premium hikes don’t force people to go without healthcare. Can we just put together a plan and fix it.
Many candidates say they will fix it during a campaign. Real political courage comes once serving, as it’s time to govern. Hopefully our state and national lawmakers will help lower our political stress levels by doing some real work and governing.