Letter: Leaders must accept results of our elections

This morning, I watched historian Jon Meacham share his thoughts about President Lincoln and what is going on in politics today. Lincoln was convinced during the Civil War that he wouldn't be re-elected. He felt it was his duty to cooperate with the president-elect if he lost the election in order to save the union. He was a president devoted to justice and the rule of law of the land.

He was willing to cede power graciously and put the constitutional experiment and the good of others above his own self-interest (unlike former President Trump).

Today, we go to the polls for the first time since the attack on the Capital on Jan 6, 2021. Perhaps 300 election deniers are on the ballot across America. The durability of American democracy itself is at stake.

Democracies depend upon the character of their leaders to follow the rule of law. The desire to have power for power's sake is tempting but it's destructive. This is why the midterm elections are so important.

There are forces in our land choosing to put their own power above everything else. To them, politics is not about mediation of our differences but an occasion for total war. Usually a vote is about policy, tax rates or immigration. This year's vote is about more than that.

It's about whether elected officials will obey the law, fairly count the votes now and in 2024 and obey the will of the people. If the assertion of a singular will trumps all, if brute force dictates all, it is not moral. It's immoral. Not democratic but autocratic. Not just but unjust. The task of history is to preserve our democracy as Lincoln did, and it is our task as well. Think twice before you cast a ballot for those who will deny election results and destroy our democracy.

Helen Jacobsen

Palatine