Election Violence

In the final, heated days leading up to an election, there is a lot of emotion ready to boil over. This election is likely going to be the worst in memory. Although a victory by Mr. Obama is likely to lead to smoldering undercurrents of resentment, especially in rural areas, this pales in comparison to what may happen if he loses.

A McCain victory is not as unlikely as the media would have to believe. The polls which was most accurate last election was IBD/TIPP. Mr. McCain is very close in this poll, actually right at the limit of the margin for error, and with almost 12% undecided. I believe that voters who decide late will break for Mr. McCain. I also believe if Mr. McCain wins the election, he very likely could lose the popular vote.

If indeed Mr. McCain does triumph, there could very well be large scale unrest and possibly riots. The ground is already prepared, with Essence already running articles quoting people saying that the Republicans are disenfranchising black voters. Some think it could be bad either way:

"If [Obama] is elected, like with sports championships, people may go out and riot,” said Bob Parks, an online columnist and black Republican candidate for state representative in Massachusetts. “If Barack Obama loses there will be another large group of people who will assume the election was stolen from him….. This will be an opportunity for people who want to commit mischief.”

Many cities will see increased police presence. Hopefully this will deter the worst of it. The place which is likely to see the worst violence is Chicago, Mr. Obama's hometown. It is already the murder capital of the US, surpassing cities with well over double it's population. (Side rant: This, by the way, happened while Mr. Obama was on the city council. It also happened in a city with extremely totalitarian gun control. Note that these things do not help crime. I, for one, will be glad not to be in Chicago, without a means of defense for myself, when the election occurs.)

I hope that America's long history of peaceful election nights will hold. But I fear it will not.