Where do we go from here?

As we head into the final 10 days of the election, it might be healthy to remember the words of Bob Dylan - "You're right from your side - I'm right from mine."

Too often in this current political climate, people forget that. They figure to some extent the best way to win an argument is to tell the other guy to shut up. Even when they do engage in a discussion, it seems most people don't bother to do an analysis of issues, but rather just take sides.

It makes decision-making rather easy if you feel free to voice opinions without needing to substantiate them. If you like Obama, you can just support him no matter what the facts reveal. If you like McCain, you can vote for him without worrying about his policies.

It also means that no matter how much evidence opponents amass and put in front of your face, you can blithely -Êperhaps willfully -Êignore it and just label it as a partisan hatchet job. No need to bother studying the information presented then. No need to refute it with your own arguments and your own evidence. Just call it stupid. Or worse yet, call it Republican. Name-calling is much more effective at winning arguments than analysis is.

I wish I had some solution to offer to this intellectual impasse, but I don't. The fact of the matter is there are serious, significant differences between Barack Obama and John McCain. They can't both be "right" about outcomes. If McCain is right, Obama would lead us to socialism. But Obama obviously disagrees with that conclusion. If Obama is right, McCain would lead us to class warfare. But McCain obviously finds that possibility absurd.

Nonetheless, they can both be right about their own beliefs - they can be right that they intend to do good for the country, and that they think they will do a better job than their opponent.

If we can remember this distinction between outcomes and intentions, we will all be much happier on the day after Election Day. If Barack Obama is elected, he will have accomplished much, but only a fraction of what he will have to accomplish in the days ahead. If John McCain is elected, he will have overcome much, but only a fraction of what he will have to overcome when he takes office.

And for the rest of us? If we survive this election, we will have seen the best and worst of American democracy, but we are likely to have both better and worse times ahead. The challenges are obvious; the solutions are difficult. Whether Obama or McCain is elected shouldn't matter as much as having a successful president, one who will leave the country stronger than he found it.

In that spirit, may the best man win.

n Frank Miele is managing editor of the Daily Inter Lake and writes a weekly column. E-mail responses may be sent to edit@dailyinterlake.com