Bridge-Building in the Days After the Election

Even after we know who the next U.S. president is, the work of AllSides and other bridge-building organizations will be far from over.

From Kristen Hansen, Civic Health Project: "This week, let's prepare to celebrate like Dodgers fans or mourn like Yankees fans. Then, as quickly as we can, let's find in ourselves and each other the grace, respect, humility, curiosity, and hope to engage together in our ongoing work of civic repair and renewal."

From Adam Calder, BridgeUSA: "Instead, let's set the standard for what our democracy looks like—an environment where every voice can be heard without fear and where disagreements can strengthen rather than divide us. If we start in our communities, in our conversations, and in ourselves, we can build a nation where, regardless of who wins, we all leave with our dignity and unity intact and our windows unbroken. Here's something that some analysts and prognosticators may have missed in their editorializing: We live in a great country with good people. And these good people want to get along with each other. After this election, let's help each other to do that."

From John Gable, co-founder of AllSides: "Regardless of who wins, there will still be fundamental problems politicians can't fix. Bias and misinformation will still flood social networks and news media, pitting us against each other. Toxic business models, blind partisanship, filter bubbles and bad actors (domestic and international) will continue to sow social division and threaten the fabric of our democratic republic. Our communities will continue to be divided, our kids will continue to feel depression and loneliness at greater levels than we have ever seen, and problems will go unsolved because we are too polarized to work across differences for our mutual benefit. Regardless of who wins, we have work to do together."