In this closely contested election, I am almost more concerned about how we come together on November 5th than I am about the results of the 4th. The challenges we face are bigger than either candidate or the agendas which they have proposed. And the idea that we will move through them successfully without being united is unimaginable. That is why it is so critical that everyone who can do so gets out and votes!
Voting may not be one of the 613 commandments that the rabbis count in the Torah, but going to the polls is surely a way of living out the values of those same rabbis. And when it comes to honoring this tradition, it doesn’t matter which way you vote. It matters that you vote.
The greater the participation in this election, the less likely the victor will be able to claim a mandate — language that gives cover to ignoring the will of all those who did not support them in the election. Even if the margin of victory is large, and it probably won’t be, or the electoral vote significantly favors the victor, the sheer number of voters who voted for the loser makes it harder for them to be ignored.
So whether you support McCain or Obama, live in a state in which the electoral outcome is “assured” or not, it’s a mitzvah to vote. Like the rabbis, who worked hard to preserve and honor the views even of those whose views they did not share, we can help make sure that the same thing happens in this election.
The rabbis were no fans of mandates. They continued to study and draw upon the wisdom of the “losers” in their legal and theological debates. They even go so far as to suggest in numerous places that the decisions we regard today as wrong, may one day be considered correct.
Can we expect as much from an Obama victory which ushers in an era of total Democratic control? How about from a McCain victory in which there will be great temptation to invoke their understanding of what Americans “really want”, especially those who the polls will have seemed to have ignored.
We can expect that whoever wins tomorrow will be more likely to respect the views of all Americans if more Americans make their voices heard in the election. So make sure you vote. It’s a mitzvah.
Author, radio and TV talk show host, and President of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Brad Hirschfield is the author of 
posted November 3, 2008 at 8:13 pm
You are operating under a false premise: This is not, by historical standards, a closely contested election. National polls are meaningless in a presidential contest. It’s the electoral votes that count. By that measure, this election looks to be a blow-out for Obama.