Usually long lines work my nerves, but when I encountered lines on Tuesday, my heart soared. After all, these were the right kinds of lines, lines snaking through a church basement, intertwining, like a young girl’s tendrils. Usually my polling place is empty. Today, it spills over with people. Behind me, a young woman whines that this process is inefficient, and I agree with her silently. But is less efficient to have people stay home. I hope every polling place is as busy as ours is, I tell her. I hope as many people are voting as the polls can accommodate, and then some. And my hope was fulfilled. In Miami and St. Louis, in Los Angeles and Baltimore, in Philadelphia and Detroit, people stood in line to vote.

To be sure, there is a rap in here about elections, technology and efficiency. There had to be a dozen ways to keep the lines manageable. The bigger story, though, is the way that people responded to democracy’s drum by getting past their apathy and going to the polls. Their response, and its "too close to call" outcome may have told us more about ourselves than we wanted to know. We are deeply divided over their direction of our country, with men and women, African Americans and whites, urban souls and other folks, differing sharply about the direction of our country. As I write this, Florida is a tossup, so that while Al Gore leads in the popular vote, George W. Bush leads in Florida votes, albeit narrowly. If Florida goes Bush he gets 271 electoral votes and the Presidency, narrowly. The narrowness of the victory doesn't matter, though. A win is a win.

I'm not inclined to opine that there is something wrong with the Electoral College. States can fix their voting systems to award electoral votes proportionately. Such a system exists in two states, and it could exist in more. I'm not inclined to dump on Nader, either. The man is clearly egomaniacal, but that seems to be more a requirement for running for national office than a disqualification. To dump on Nader, at this point, is to begrudge anyone the right to run for public office. Both Democrats and Republicans need

No matter who wins, the process of government will be difficult for the next two years. Democrats have taken neither house of Congress, but they have enough votes to slow or stop the process. Moderates will rule the roost, because they can side with either party when key issues are at stake. If we have two or four years of do nothing government, the legacy of this 2000 election might be a reduced role for government, which is what Bush has been pushing for all along. Gridlock may mean that a Gore win takes the energy out of the fight that he promised. Whoever takes the White House will have to walk softly around a sharply divided legislature who were propelled into their positions by our sharply divided nation.

People cared enough to make their divisions clear. Though turnout, at just over 50 percent, was not record-breaking, it defied the projections and prognostications of apathy. People flocked to the polls. Black folks responded to the NAACP’s exhortation to "bring all souls to the polls." Middle America white folks responded to the Bush mantra that he trusts people, not governments. Gun owners went with the candidate that would allow them to arm themselves. People responded to the drumbeat of democracy despite the dreary drivel that pundits put out, lines notwithstanding. Not a few were turned away, and a few left of their own accord, but long lines were the antithesis of the apathy we heard about.

Wouldn't it be great if we could bottle the energy we saw in long lines, if we could take the folks who cared enough to get out there and ask them if they care enough to stay out there? Wouldn't it be great if the folks in the lines could somehow begin a dialogue about the direction of this country that could both inform and heal? The lines are a great visual for community, for involvement, for possibility. What if, instead of waiting in line, we could take a number, sit in a conversation, and wait until our numbers were called?

Oregon had a mail ballot, and Arizona floated the notion of an Internet ballot. People are trying to use technology to increase our participation, to good end From where I sit, though, long voting lines may bond us together from time to time. This was an opportunity to talk, to learn, to remind ourselves of the composition and direction of our community. While we can save time with technology, we can’t replicate the call of democracy’s drums on the Internet. It took a real line, not a virtual one, to remind me of the magic of democracy, and the siren call of her drums. Whether Bush or Gore prevails, Tuesday reminds us that every vote matters.

JULIANNE MALVEAUX COMMENTARY NOVEMBER 9, 2000

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