After all of the coverage and hype, it’s tough to believe that Election Day 2006 is merely 12 hours away. For young Americans on the left, this election season is exciting for the fresh opportunities it provides. Few of us were politicized before Premier Bush took office for the first time, meaning that none of us have lived under any American government that wasn’t dominated by Republicans. It’s difficult for me to imagine that the federal government might soon pass legislation that isn’t inherently destructive.

So much has been made about the midterms because they are critically important. If the Democrats take back at least the House, Congress can begin to restore the checks and balances that are fundamental to American representative democracy. There are also important ballot initiatives across the country, ranging from the abortion battle in South Dakota to Michigan’s own fight to save affirmative action. Various principled and progressive candidates look poised to win seats or promotions as well, including populist Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Keith Ellison - who will be the first Muslim elected to congress - in Minnesota, and social democrat Bernie Sanders in Vermont.

Yet as the media hullaboo climaxes tomorrow night, I think it will be valuable for all of us to take a step back and reevaluate the implications of the election. I was able to do just that last night when I attended the Cranbrook Peace Foundation’s annual Peace Lecture in Detroit. The speech was delivered by Howard Zinn, the prolific radical historian and author of A People’s History of the United States, my favorite book of all time and a book that Will Hunting claims “will blow your head back.” During his 90 minute speech, which was engaging, articulate and funny as hell, Zinn touched on the role history can play in breaking down American’s naivete about foreign policy and our influence around the world as well as the failings of American democracy since our creation.

But I took away two specific points that seemed particularly relevant given the time of the year. One was the simple point that American leaders, be them Republicans or Democrats, have different interests (i.e. profit) than the population at large. We can convince ourselves that the Republicans are the root cause of all of the nation’s problems - and it’s not a difficult argument - but let’s not forget that the Democrats almost unanimously voted to invade Iraq and few stood up to the complete desecration of habeus corpus. These trends aren’t new either; Democrats were behind 1996’s infamous “welfare reform,” NAFTA “free trade” programs and a host of other equally mind-boggling legislation.

This brings me to Zinn’s next point. Although a Democratic victory is undoubtedly good for the nation, it is popular movements of engaged citizens that bring about real structural change. Almost all important legislation that has been passed by U.S. politicos is the direct result of passionate citizens forcing the government into action. Worker’s organized and executed sit down strikes under dangerous conditions to give Americans the eight hour day, the minimum wage and the weekend. Black people hit the streets in mass protest to force Democrats to enforce the decision of Plessy v. Ferguson and to write the the Voting Rights act. Countless other popular American movements organized with similar results. In the end, it is silly to rely on the government - no matter who controls each branch - to fulfill the promises they granted us in the Declaration of Independence, such as “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Our work must not stop with a Democratic sweep tomorrow. True equality and justice for all Americans, a complete troop withdrawl from Iraq, universal health care, and the other issues we all care about will only be realized if we hold our officials accountable and build power outside of the Beltway. Let’s hope American’s dont lose the urgency for change they have demonstrated since the summer.

-Adam Doster