The old Simon & Garfunkel song describes two lovers as one is about to leave in the coming morning. He dreads the coming dawn. He dreads what awaits him as light breaks the darkness of night and the thrill of being with his love.

This will be our condition too, come Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. By then we will know who controls what Houses of Congress. Our breath will either be one of deep contentment and peace if our political love has won or one of quick, short breathes as we lay awake, restless, pondering our loss.

And Iraq will still be in the midst of a civil war. No matter who wins the elections, we will all have to deal with that reality. Sebastian Mallaby, in today’s Washington Post, details well the choices we will have to make as a nation.

As the sun rises Wednesday, the political games will have ended, the election season will be over in the US. There will be winners and losers, but there will still be Iraq. As Mallaby points out, we will no longer have the elections to distract us. We will be forced to focus on how to be peacemakers in a war that is so far away, but remains so close and so very real. May we find a way to put the partisanship aside and find a way forward together.