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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIBJ receives hundreds of press releases daily, many of them offering lists or studies that put Indiana or Indianapolis at the top or bottom of some list.
One email on Monday purported that Indianapolis has the most ambitious young professionals in Indiana. A press release last month put Fort Wayne on a list of the most affordable housing markets in the country. And another email reported that “Talk to Me” ranked as the most searched horror movie in Indiana, with 20,776 average monthly searches this year.
Most of these emails go straight to the deleted folder. But one headline caught our eye: Hoosiers Among the Most Tolerant of Neighbors’ Political Yard Signs, Finds Survey.
That headline is actually misleading. The survey published by the pop culture website Geek Nexus applies to respondents in Fort Wayne, not all of Indiana, and it found that residents there are slightly more tolerant of political yard signs than people in other cities. But it prompted us to reflect on the importance of tolerance just days before the election.
Publisher Nate Feltman writes in his column at right that he hopes whoever wins the presidential race does so resoundingly so there’s no ongoing question about whether the win is legitimate.
It’s more likely, though, that the country is heading for another close election—at the top of the ticket and in other races, as well. Therefore, about half the country will be upset at the presidential race outcome. And a similar percentage could be disappointed in the outcome of the governor’s race.
And we know that close elections can lead to disillusionment, frustration, accusations, fear and more.
Let’s keep that in mind as we enter the next week. Let’s give those around us—in our family, in our friends group, at our workplaces, on social media—some grace as we all work through our reactions to who wins and who loses on Tuesday.
And let’s remember that we might not know who wins the presidential race for days, maybe longer. Accusations will undoubtedly be flying. Court fights are likely. Pundits on TV will be pontificating.
It will be easy to get caught up in the emotion of the moment and forget that when this election is settled, regardless of who wins, we will all go back to our Thanksgiving tables and holiday celebrations, to the board room or the break room, to sharing space at restaurants and at Pacers games and—in what might be most difficult of all—on Facebook and LinkedIn and other social media sites.
As always, we urge Hoosiers to vote. Already, lines have been long at some polling places. So it’s worth thinking through when you will vote and where. There are still a few days to vote early (although you might want to avoid downtown Indianapolis, where the biggest news will be Taylor Swift, not who’s running for governor). And you can check the crowd-sourced site Indyvotetimes.org for wait times.
But whatever the outcome, let’s react with grace and humility. That will make for a more joyous Thanksgiving table.•
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