Those who do the work will win.

This is grim and I really should be doing something else

I have just a few minutes and truly should be doing something else, working on another project, but in a rare moment of genuine love for all, I have news.

The midterms are going to the team that does the work.

It is as simple as that.

One side is already over confident which always spells trouble.

The midterms are going to the team that does the work. Door knocking, phone banking (which one friend told me just yesterday he hates, but will do anyway,) talking to strangers, all of it is the dull routine of repeating an unloved task over and over.

Both sides think their ideas, their beliefs, their truths will carry the day. They won’t.

And here is what is truly challenging. There will be people on both sides who will strain, work, push, pull, do all the hard, dull, disenchanting work, and one side will lose.

Victories by Democratic Socialist do not predict the future. Victories by Trump loyalists in Republican primaries do not predict the future. Both parties are hamstrung by the worst of their members, their qualities, beliefs and histories. Both parties contain hopeful signs that government can be of the people, by the people and for the people.

I have to take long, deep breaths to calm myself when I think about all this. It seems so clear to me the right way, the best way, the most creative and compassionate way. There are tens of millions who would read my heart’s best hopes and say, “no way.”

One recent columnist wrote that we can thank Bill Clinton, George W. and Trump for the fact that politics in this country has come down to, “which side are you on?”

Prayer might help, but few of us are praying to be shown a new way. Mostly it will come down to work, dull work, maddening work, and words I have heard in the past, “I’m not voting. They’re all crooks. It doesn’t make any difference.”

Donald J. Trump does deserve credit for a few things. Here’s one. No candidate for president has ever received as many votes. And though this may read a little strangely, no candidate has ever had as many people vote against him. Maybe for better or worse, he has drawn more support and more opposition than any candidate in history. And lots and lots of those people worked hard to see him win twice and lose once.

The midterms are going to the team that does the work. And the losers will have done a lot of hard work, too. What a game. What a show. So much in play. So much to win or lose.