Signs of the polarization that has gripped our nation are all around us, including on today’s page with one commentary on the dangers and hypocrisy over WikiLeaks and another, if one study is to be believed, on the very health of democracy.

It’s about more than Donald Trump versus Hillary Clinton, neither of whom would stand a chance in a more ordinary year. The underlying issues have been coming to a head for years. Even the recent vice presidential debate between the mild-mannered Mike Pence and Tim Kaine – both devoutly religious and both chosen to "balance" the unpopular candidates at the top of their tickets – devolved into chaotic exchanges with the candidates talking over each other, albeit with a touch more decorum.

The death of Antonin Scalia has played a critical role, his vacant seat leaving a divided court on all the hot-button issues. Obama tried to appease Republicans by nominating a 63-year old moderate, Merrick Garland. Liberals would have preferred a younger and more liberal choice; while Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has refused even to hold hearings on Judge Garland because "the American people should have a voice in choosing the next justice," as if the people had no role in electing Obama to a four-year term in 2012.

A sizable proportion of the American population is feeling insecure and threatened by the demographic and economic changes underway, by the continuing unrest in the Middle East, by the refugee crisis in Europe, and by the apparently growing threat of "home-grown" terrorism. The coastal elites may think these people ill-informed and bigoted, "deplorables," but their fears and insecurities have an unquestioned basis in reality, and there will be a price to pay no matter who wins if their concerns continue to be ignored.

The two major parties are expressing contradictory narratives about the causes of the crises we face today, about the nature of American society, and about the solutions to our most pressing problems.

Trump supporters feel deserted by politicians and business elites who they believe have let their manufacturing jobs disappear, have empowered illegal immigrants at the expense of the white working class, and who have presided over a sluggish economy that has still not wholly recovered from the financial crisis of 2008. They believe Obama has failed to exert American military power and therefore has squandered the global power and influence the U.S. enjoyed for the past 50 years, not to mention allowed the rise of ISIS. To Trump supporters, Obamacare is a cumbersome government program passed over Republican objections and with rising costs being forced on an unwilling public.

Clinton supporters see Obamacare as a flawed compromise with the insurance companies that at least provides a minimum of health coverage that might help us catch up with the rest of the developed world. To Clinton supporters, our growing diversity is a sign of strength rather than a threat to the traditions of American life. And to the Clinton camp – despite overwhelming support of both Republicans and Democrats, including Clinton – George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq empowered Iran, led to a wholly predictable Iraq civil war, rallied much of world opinion against the U.S., and helped inspire the rise of ISIS and the disintegration of the Middle East.

If Clinton wins, more likely, Trump has left open the possibility he will challenge the results. However quixotic any challenge might be, he can still agitate enough followers to make any meaningful national unity impossible. If the partisanship of the campaign continues after the election, our adversaries will be delighted and our friends dismayed. And while it may serve Trump’s purposes, it doesn’t serve the country. And if Clinton should lose?

Political opponents, no matter how misguided, are decent people trying to do the right thing. It’s the only entry point to rational debate, compromise and problem-solving in the nation’s best interest. We’re all Americans. It’s what the founders intended, and that’s what we seem to have forgotten.

– The Telegram & Gazette

Worcester, Mass.

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