Election Day — Hope of making America civil again?

Election Day 2022 — whatever the final results — presents us with the question of how we will move our country forward. Will it be with grace and composure?

Two years ago, I wrote a book called “Crisis Averted” which focused on high-stakes and crisis communications. I asserted that the flip side of crisis is opportunity and that light can spring from the darkest moments.

The range of emotions I felt at my local polling place yesterday provided the perfect encapsulation of where we stand today as a country.

America is a stressed-out nation: serious financial challenges and economic strain on the horizon, a breakdown in societal norms that shocks the conscience on a nearly daily basis, a crime surge, growing disparity between social classes. 

A largely manufactured struggle between people of different ethnic backgrounds engineered not at making things better, but instead at encouraging people to err on the side of outrage is tearing America apart from within. Black, white, brown and everything in between, at odds with each other over virtually nothing. It is discouraging.

When I entered the local elementary school to do my civic duty, I looked around at the ballot counting machines assembled in the cafeteria of the local elementary school five minutes from my home. A man walked toward me wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” t-shirt.

My gaze fell upon his shirt, then our eyes locked, and his mouth formed into what can only be described as a smirk. The man seemed to enjoy the fact that his shirt had caught my eye, probably assuming — falsely — that I was the on the “other side” politically and was irked by his message. After all, wasn’t provoking a reaction the point of wearing such a t-shirt to the polling place?

But if this man could have looked over my shoulder as I cast my ballot, he would have seen me filling in circles next to a range of candidates from each of the two parties. In reality, I’m not his political enemy, but a registered independent in a swing state. I do not consider myself a Democrat, or a Republican. I’m an American.

This man’s shirt didn’t prompt the outrage he likely hoped, but it did make me sad. The in-your-face attitude displayed by so much partisan clothing, flags and bumper stickers shows that we have become a country where people who don’t like the policies and politics of the opposing party celebrate with mocking and hateful rhetoric.

I grew up in a family where we were taught to respect the United States and the office of the presidency. If we disagreed with certain policymakers, then we were encouraged to become politically engaged in the process ourselves. It would have been unspeakable to wear a shirt that showed disrespect to the institution of the presidency.

We have lowered the bar of what’s permissible in this country — and we should immediately begin raising it back up.

Democrats and Republicans alike should decry “Let’s go Brandon,” and similar — often more obscene — hostile political propaganda.

Yet that polling place tucked inside a local elementary school also gave me reason to think there is hope for better days. I was greeted at the door by a poll worker named Henry who woke up at 5 a.m. and drove across the county to volunteer.

As I signed in to vote, I couldn’t help but overhear a young girl with her mother excitedly telling the poll worker that it was her first time voting ever. This was a special moment.

We hear so much on the news and in the media about how the younger generations take everything for granted and that they’re entitled, but here was a young person excited at the prospect of taking part in our democracy.

The results likely will be counted for days to come. There will be endless chatter about who won, who lost and what this will mean for the future of the United States.

Regardless of who prevails, and where the power lies, we have much work to do to restore decorum and decency to our society. We must stop demonizing one another and reveling in angering the other side.

Our strength traditionally has always been our unity and the American ability to get through tough times with fortitude. I believe that we can do it again. I believe in decency. I believe in respect. I believe in free expression. I believe in America.

I believe in the promise and the optimism of seeing a young woman voting for the first time.

My hope this Election Day is that we will make incremental progress over the months and years to come. Not just to propel our nation forward, but to make America a kinder, more respectful and respectable society. In short, to make America civil again.

Evan Nierman is CEO of crisis PR firm Red Banyan and author of “Crisis Averted: PR Strategies to Protect Your Reputation and the Bottom Line.”