Not every voter got what he or she wanted last night. Many got far less than they hoped. But it’s not last night; it’s this morning.
Here’s the sometimes-grating but inescapable truth: another day is another chance to fight on (or, alternatively, to bask in the afterglow of success). There’s great strength in carrying on, to the next campaign, debate, or test. Churchill was right: In defeat, defiance.
Now it doesn’t have to be that way. One could give in, relent, and remain docile. One could jump from one belief to its opposite, hoping for more security among an apparent majority. Some are like this, those who give up, give in, and espouse today everything they rejected yesterday. They’re not ill, disabled, or impoverished; on the contrary, they’re often established and comfortable people who want to ‘find themselves,’ ‘sort things out,’ or ‘step back for a while.’
These feelings aren’t the result of careful, deliberate reflection; they’re capitulation to a sudden reversal. Capitulation for these reasons is both unnecessary and embarrassing.
People admire those who stand their ground on first principles: men who are steadfast, and women who know the value of forming their slender fingers into a fist.
Borrowing from an old cigarette campaign, on matters of principle, it’s better “to fight than switch.” Many candidates or causes one supports may fail (especially if one’s a third-party voter). So they may; their supporters can yet go on. A majority will often proceed heedlessly, favoring assertion of authority over persuasion. For it all, I’ve never wished to trade principles for a chance to sup at the table with stodgy, declining, self-professed ‘people of influence’ and ‘dignitaries.’
In fact, the idea of doing so is simultaneously foolish and funny.
Americans rightly admire those who fight on. It’s so much better, all round, to fight than switch.