Credit: Getty Images.

The thought of Andrew Cuomo running for mayor of New York naturally conjures Halloween rather than Election Day, but they are after all close both in date and spirit.

Spooky, but not quite real enough to do us any harm, in the case of the dark prince.

The coming national election, by contrast, is lining up as the most consequential of my lifetime in terms of choosing the leadership and direction of our country. That is truly scary stuff.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

Had the 18-year-old vote been in place — that didn’t happen until 1971 — my first vote would have been in the Kennedy-Nixon nail-biter of 1960, which was very much in the same league as what we are likely to experience Nov. 5. Incredibly, bitterly, close. A 50-50 election is a rarity, but that’s how it’s shaping up.

Very nearly half of America will not be happy with the results next month. All of us have to be ready and willing to be among the disappointed and – the hard part – accept it. Because our democracy depends on it.

For the first time in my lifetime, the embedded principle of the peaceful transfer of power from one administration to the next is seemingly at risk, which I find deeply........

© Times Union