E HAVE WITNESSED both the most uplifting demonstration of the mosaic of American democracy and a most sobering reminder of how divided the world's most diverse democracy remains.
Anyone who stayed glued to the television set from 8 p.m. Eastern Time Tuesday night until the wee hours of Wednesday saw a drama that was better than the Super Bowl, and that comes from a native Cheesehead who on Monday night screamed himself silly watching Green Bay upset Minnesota in overtime.
Now the nation is in overtime. Al Gore and George W. Bush were awarded big states as if they were touchdowns and small states as if they were field goals. The networks had jock-inspired scoreboards, graphics, and clocks counting down to the closings of polls. I kept expecting an NFL referee to interrupt the game to say:
''We are reviewing the ruling on the field that Al Gore won Florida.... After review, we have ruled an incomplete pass for Gore. The networks dropped the ball. The scoreboard will be reset to the previous spot. Fourth down!''
Just as nail-biting games are seared into our memories, this election showed us how every last vote matters. The latest song in sports stadiums is ''Who Let the Dogs Out?'' When urban states like Michigan, New York, and Illinois came in for Gore, people could shout ''Who let the blacks out?'' as well as the unions, gays, the poor, and Planned Parenthood. Woof, woof.
When the rest of America went for Bush, you could shout, ''Who let the guns out?'' as well as white men, stay-home moms and religious conservatives. In Oregon and Florida, you could shout ''Who let Ralph out?'' Bow wow.
But when the contest is over, we are still faced with injuries to nurse. The vote was divided by color. People of color went for Gore, while 60 percent of white men went for Bush. Half of white women voted for Bush despite what a Bush Supreme Court would do on abortion.
It was divided by class. The working poor and the working class voted for Gore while the middle class and the upper middle class voted for Bush. It was divided by sexual orientation; 70 percent of gay and lesbian voters picked Gore. It was divided by issues. Gun owners, small towns, and tax cutters picked Bush. Voters in big cities who cared about gun control, jobs, education, and health care picked Gore. After all the talk about seniors, they split nearly down the middle, 50 percent for Gore to 47 percent for Bush.
Perhaps it is juvenile to metaphorically turn the election of people who have life-and-death power into Monday Night Football. But this drama of a 49-49 game, with the sudden death of Florida and the possibility that West Palm Beach may be called back onto the field has reminded us as no history lecture could of the power of the vote.
In a 49-49 game, there were so many offensive fireworks that a black Gore voter in Texas could still cheer her team on in Philadelphia. A gun owner in Massachusetts could roar for his brethren in Ohio. A Jewish voter in Kentucky could bask in Jewish turnout in the Northeast. Environmentalists in Arkansas could raise the roof for California. Every voter could find at least one spot in the United States where voters like them made a difference. Everyone, for a moment, could feel the thrill of victory. Who let me out? Woof, woof.
But the agony of defeat in politics is quite different from the feeling in sports. These days, losing athletes still earn millions of dollars. Losing voters could lose millions of dollars for their issues and be pummeled long after the final gun with punitive social and economic policies. That is of major concern if Bush wins, with right-wingers ready to send the Supreme Court back to the 1950s.
America had a great victory. The people voted as if they all matter. The next president faces the incredible task of convincing the losing half that they still matter. If he fails, the most amazing overtime game in American history will not be over. The losers came so close to victory that you will see a new energy when they come back to training camp next season.
Derrick Z. Jackson's e-mail address is jackson@globe.com.
