A reader told me the other day that she was looking forward to seeing what I would say about the Nov. 4 election.

Well, I don’t really have much to say. The election was too predictable, especially in Wyoming, where voters had no choice in local and state contests. When you walked into the voting booth, you already knew who was going to win, so there was no drama.

I can remember staying up late wondering whether Ed Hershler was going to become Wyoming’s first — and ultimately, our only — three-term governor, or whether Malcolm Wallop would knock Gale McGee out of his Senate seat.

Once, back when representation in the Legislature was by county and Big Horn County had two seats in the House of Representatives, I had to stay up long enough to see if we south county citizens had enough votes to keep the north end from holding both seats.

Ultimately we did, proving that having a Democrat represent us was preferable to having both representatives come from the Lovell area.

I miss those days.

I think the absence of drama in our elections is bad for the state. Even though voter participation in Wyoming is better than in most other states, competitive races would, I think, mean even better turnouts, and, over the long run, more competition would result in better government.

With that in mind, I think Democrats and others who challenged Republican candidates and worked hard at running deserve praise.

Pete Gosar and Mike Ceballos deserve it most, because they took on the two races that drew the most interest and controversy and probably received the most scrutiny of all the candidates. They sacrificed a lot for the voters and for their party.

If we are ever to have a real two-party system in Wyoming again, we need to find many people who are willing to follow the example of Pete, Mike and others who were willing to take up the challenge that so few were willing to take up this year.

Someday I hope that happens.

As for the national election, all I can say is that we have to hope for the best. Maybe both Republicans and Democrats can settle down, ignore those whose main object is to disrupt things and begin to work together to bring the hoped for “the best” into being.

And there’s the problem. Just what is that “best” that we are hoping for?  Recent polls have shown that Americans — about two-thirds of us, anyway — think America is “headed in the wrong direction,” but it seems they are a bit fuzzy on just what that direction is.

Certain current events have some citizens talking about the nation’s moral decay and how it will lead to our nation’s collapse. I’ve heard that before when there is a major change on an issue as there was in Wyoming recently.

Such thinking, though depends on the idea that in previous times America was a particularly moral place, at least more so than lesser nations around the world.

That thesis, though, is rather shaky.

Any honest look at American history will reveal plenty of corrupt politicians taking advantage of their offices to steal from the government. Read, for example, “Island of Vice,” a book relaying Theodore Roosevelt’s efforts to clean up corruption and immoral behavior as New York City’s police commissioner more than 100 years ago. Or find a book called “Railroaded” and read about the corruption involved in building the transcontinental railroads.

For immorality on a lower level, read “Huckleberry Finn,” whose tales of drunkenness, domestic violence and deadly family feuds were no doubt based on real events Mark Twain knew about from his days on the Mississippi River

In fact, in many ways, America is more moral today than it was in the 18th and 19th centuries, or even in the middle of the 20th century, where, as one example, lynchings prompted by racism were common and weren’t confined to the South.

In short, I think those who believe America is heading in the wrong direction are comparing it to an idyllic past built on moral principles, and in reality, no such past existed. America is as good as it ever was; maybe it’s even better.

I am a little afraid, though, that if we as a people really believe our nation is in decline, we will in fact bring about that decline. We need, instead, to approach the nation’s future with optimism instead of pessimism, restore faith in our future and take the offensive in making that future what we want it to be.  Instead of complaining about changes when they happen, we should to find ways to take advantage of those changes and use them to build a new future.

Then we can tell the next group of poll takers that our country is headed in the right direction.

We might even be able to send a Wyoming Democrat to the Senate some day.