The day after Election Day will be here soon. Rather than speculate on what will happen, let’s think for a moment about what should happen, what could happen — if we want what is best for us and for the country. After all, the future doesn’t happen by itself; it will be what we make it.

The first thing we will have to respond to Wednesday is the likelihood that we won’t know who won the presidential election. All of the polls show us that the country is pretty evenly divided, so barring a surprise, this will be a very close election. And it takes a while to count all the votes — it is, after all, a big country.

So there is no need to panic if a winner has not been announced for a few days. Then there's the matter of a possible discrepancy between the popular vote and the electoral vote. We have a complicated election system.

Our founders designed it with the best of intentions, and people disagree today about whether it should be modified. But on Tuesday, the election will take place within this constitutional structure and the state laws that support that structure, which allows for someone to win the Electoral College without having the most popular votes. Prepare yourself for this possibility; it's happened before.

Scoppe: These two types of people have to coexist, regardless of who's elected president And the core issue: As Mick Jagger has taught us, you can’t always get what you want. Sometimes we believe in a candidate, and he or she just doesn’t win. I kn.