Listening to all the pundits analyze the aftermath of the election, I was struck by the word aftermath. Its Old English derivation is: “a second crop, as of grass that grows after the second mowing.” The modern meaning is: “the result or consequence, especially an unpleasant one.”
For me, the word seemed to mean after-the-MATH, that is, the vote counting and the projected winners based on percentages of precincts reporting. Election night is all about the MATH (a night of numbers, patterns and percentages), so to me the day after is literally the afterMATH, a time to analyze what the numbers of last night mean. What does the Republican sweep of the House mean (a referendum on the Presidency? as some pundits assert) and how will the sweep affect the administration’s policies? I am hopeful that education reform will be a high priority.