Dan Rather

Today is the climax of the most intense midterm campaign season in recent memory. Will the Democrats take control of the House? The Senate? Will the Republicans mount a historic defence of both houses of Congress? No predictions here, thank you. If past elections have taught us anything, it's that he who tries to read the tea leaves before the cup is drained is likely to get burned.

But regardless of what happens today, the hard work will only just be beginning - for Congress, for President Bush and for the American people.

One of the classic barometers of how Americans feel about the state of their union is the so-called right track-wrong track question in public-opinion polls. For some time now, in poll after poll, the percentage of likely voters who respond that they believe the nation is 'on the wrong track,' has held steady at well over 50 per cent. A broad sampling of current polls shows that it now stands somewhere in the 60 per cent range.

That's a lot of unhappy voters. And no matter which party ends up with control of the House or the Senate, these voters will need attending to. So what is to be done?

I think we all know the pessimistic version: Whether it's Republicans or Democrats running the show in Congress, not much is likely to change. The compressed election cycle (only 730 shopping days 'til the 2008 election!) and all that it entails in terms of fund-raising and political positioning will see to that. The parties will look first and foremost to score political points off of one another, the lobbyists representing deep-pocketed campaign donors will get their quo for their quid, and Mr. and Ms. Average American will end up wondering - once again - how their interests got lost in the Washington shuffle.

Pessimistic, and depressing

Yep, that's pessimistic and, frankly, depressing to the degree that it reflects recent reality. I say 'recent' because, though these elements have always been a part of our politics, they have seldom been as pronounced as they are now.

And what's the optimistic version? How about: An American electorate fed up with partisan warfare, division and pay-to-play politics will not stop voting on election day. It will shrug off the cynicism that keeps so many from getting involved in politics, and it will show our representatives in Washington - Democrat, Republican and Mugwump - just who's boss. Individual citizens will rediscover the tools of public influence - letters, phone calls, e-mails and peaceful protest - and wield them. Politicians digesting the lessons of this election and preparing for the next one will feel the accountability in the air, and understand that they need to respond to it.

Like anything worth achieving, it will not be easy. Nor will it be a panacea for what ails this country, not with so many disparate opinions out there on how America should handle its biggest challenges. But a concerted effort to reconnect We the People with the day-to-day workings of our democracy would have a very real potential to transform the climate in Washington into one where people's - not politicians' - priorities reign.

We the People may disagree on the specifics of how to achieve certain goals, but we agree on a lot more than our politicians would have us believe. Maybe it's time we let them know that we expect them to work together - and even compromise - on Iraq, on America's health-care crisis, and on the gamut of other challenges facing America. But we can only get them to do their job if we understand, first, that our job as citizens does not begin and end on election day.

Dan Rather is an American television commentator.