Another Bloodless Revolution
Kenneth R. "Ken" Plum
 
         This column is being written before the outcome of the Presidential election is decided.  Going into the weekend before Election Day there is great anticipation and expectation for an historic outcome.  When told in a call to my office that the lines at the polling places were likely to be long, an 82-year-old constituent said, "Isn't that wonderful!"  Americans have been yearning for a change.
 
        Clearly there has been in Virginia and in this country another bloodless revolution as Thomas Jefferson termed the shifts in power after elections.  Just as his hard-fought, highly-negative and contested election in 1800 had brought about major changes of direction in the executive branch of government, Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers recognized that the form of government they had put into place permitted the people to change their government without resorting to violence or bloodshed.
 
        Just as we do not go to the streets to resolve our political differences, we do not withhold our support from the winners.  Now as great as any time in our history the victors need our thoughts, prayers, and support.  Our economy is in shambles.  We are at war.  Our rights as citizens have been infringed upon.  Our image abroad is at an all-time low.  Major institutions have faltered.
 
        We have new leadership.  We need bipartisanship.  I believe that most people recognize that sacrifices will be necessary before the economy recovers.  The American people have tremendous endurance, strength, and resolve.  Within the challenges we face we have potential and opportunity.  A great economic stimulus would be investments in rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure.  A reversal of our current taxing policies would put more money in the hands of the middle class to spend.  We can strengthen and stabilize our financial institutions while putting necessary safeguards into place.  We can regain our place in the world with a more enlightened foreign policy.
 
        All the persons who took part in the historic election campaigns this cycle are to be congratulated.  Take some time off for the holiday season, but remember that there is an election every year in Virginia.  Already the campaigning for governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general has begun.  Also elected next year will be all 100 members of the House of Delegates.  Will Mr. Jefferson's Virginia see another bloodless revolution next year?