Nathaniel

Shockey

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October 13, 2008

A Campaign to Scar America’s Psyche (and Mine)

John McCain and Sarah Palin are on the ropes, gasping for air, desperate to land a haymaker.

But considering Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, a wife who has repeatedly admitted a lack of national pride, one year of senatorial experience, ACORN, gargantuan flip-flops about pulling the troops out of Iraq and our relationship with Israel, and a running mate who has blatantly said his very own presidential candidate lacks the necessary experience . . . if these issues and associations fail to provide enough punching power, then what could?

Honestly, I find it almost unfathomable.

How could America willingly elect someone with a resume so tattered it would be impossible to hold between an index finger and a thumb?

It’s easy to blame the Democrats for being seduced by Barack Obama’s pleasant-sounding words, and for running away from the Republican Party with such reckless abandon they have no idea why. And it is equally easy to say that at least 40 percent of voters get it.

The simple fact of the matter is that this would be exactly the sort of black-and-white thinking that polarized our country and got us into this mess. Have you listened to any senator or congressperson interviewed recently? Republicans and Democrats really seem to hate one another. This outlandish resentment has made its way into households across the country in such a penetrating way that few people can even talk to one another about politics unless they have agreed that they think the same thing. (But really, what’s the point of speaking if both people think the same way?)

How many people are voting Republican for dumb reasons? When you whittle away those who are voting R with little actual understanding of the rather complicated economic and foreign policy issues, what percentage of people voting for McCain are actually voting well? And much to my dismay, the past several years have escorted many well-meaning, left-leaning people into my life, people possessing both heart and brains.

Believe me, I was appalled when I discovered that the pastor of my parents’ church in Washington and his wife were Democrats. Surprisingly, I eventually managed to accept the possibility that they were not only sincere, but perhaps even Heaven-bound.

So perhaps a worthwhile first step, especially for any conservative who has never met someone who is not only a liberal, but also a good person, would be to get out more.

And the first point is this: Stop jumping to such easy conclusions about people, unless of course you enjoy our current political warfare, in which case you’ll want to continue being perpetually angry.

The second point is that we have to remember the only reason any of this even matters is people – not Democrats, Republicans, not even Americans – but people. What good are we to the rest of the world if our country, which I’m told was once a bright light, reduces itself to the poisonous darkness of bickering and anger?

Recently, I was at a church barbecue, talking with a couple of guys I didn’t know very well, and the conversation turned towards the economy, and ultimately, politics. We managed to gingerly touch on issues without revealing our allegiances for a while, but eventually I started in with my opinions, my anger about the economy and our political landscape surfaced, and the conclusion we reached was that politics are upsetting – so upsetting, in fact, that we ought not to take them too seriously and focus more on our everyday lives.

The heart of this idea is good, but it is lacking in brain. As I said, the only reason any of this political hullabaloo matters is because it affects people. Someone has to make decisions about how we fund and use our military, our police force and our fire departments. We can’t just ignore it and assume the issues will take care of themselves. When we do that, we end up leaving the decisions to people who aren’t qualified.

In case you hadn’t yet realized, this election has been incredibly hard on my psyche. But it won’t kill me, and I don’t even think it will kill America. I just hope we can learn from the ugliness of this election cycle that we have to discover a better way, and that means two things:

1. The only way to heal our country is to stop waiting for a savior to come alone and fix it for us.
2. If we can’t learn to hold thoughtful, specific and sincere conversations about politics with people who disagree, then amazingly, things will get even worse.

© 2008 North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.

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