Frank Barry, Columnist

An Election Day Reminder From Mark Twain and a Sack of Flour

Mark Twain knew a good story when he saw it: This one is about trust in democracy.

Voting is just part of our responsibility. 

Photographer: Melissa Sue Gerrits/Getty Images North America
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In this series, Frank Barry is retracing his 2020 Winnebago trip across America on the Lincoln Highway, the nation’s oldest transcontinental route. That adventure, which eventually became a book , focused on finding a way forward for a divided country. This time around, he’ll be revisiting some of the issues he examined, and some of the people he met, to learn what’s changed — and whether there is now more or less hope about the future.

As I arrived in San Francisco on the eve of the election, the most important question looming over the city is the same one that looms over the rest of the country — and it’s not whether Kamala Harris or Donald Trump will win. It’s whether the losing side accepts the verdict of the voters.