As we come down to the final three weeks of campaining for the mid-term elections, we have now entered into a particularly mean season. I don't know if you have noticed it or not, but the ads are getting more and more personal and acidic in their approach. It is the rare ad that actually tells what the candidate in question might do once they achieve the high office they are running for. Most of the ads are bitter personal attacks on the opposing candidates themselves, their party affiliation, or their private lives and their families. Its like watching a bunch of kindergarten kids squabble on the playground, only on a far larger scale and one of infinitely more importance.
The bottom line is that politicians, whether those in office or those seeking office, think we, the elcetorate, are stupid. They think we'll fall for the stuff they put out, that we'll somehow believe their opponenet is apparently Hitler reincarnated. They are quick to take shots at the opponents pasts and project that on to how they'll act in the future never once considering their own miscues and mistakes of the past. Those candidates who are now threatened with defeat in November don't look at themselves and blame their lack of attention to their own constituency. No! They'd prefer to blame the republicans, the democrats, the tea partiers, or maybe even the witch doctor down the street!
I honestly do not know what the anwer is to this dilemma. We need to elect officials who respect the public and it's wishes and opinions and not just when every election time roles around. We need to elect politicians who have the courage to step foward and say what they stand for and what they will do and let the chips fall where they may. We need term limits so that those who go to Washington to serve do eventually come home to once again become an ordinary citizen instead of that official who comes home to the fried chicken circuit!
I, for one, am glad to see an abundance of the voters getting involved in the process. More people than I can remember are interested in the politics of the day. It's just too bad that they have waited this long to become involved. We need every last voter involved in the process.
We need politicans who are willing to work together regardless of party affiliation or political philosophy, to move this country forward in a direction that builds up, not tears down. There is so much bitterness in public life that the best of us would never think of running for elective office because they have no desire to place themselves or their families in the line of fire.
Lastly, we must pray for guidance. The United States is not what it once was. That's both good and bad on many levels. We once were a place where people from all lands could come, work hard, and achieve success through the sweat of their own brow. It was a melting pot. And that pot melted all those wonderful nationalities into one even greater people: Americans! We are no longer Americans. We are African-Americans, Arab-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and on and on. Keeping the homeland's culture and customs is great, but we must remember that the United States' strength has always been our unity. We are now divided into numerous ethnical camps. Our leaders need to foster an atmosphere where the unifitcation of a people does not threaten their individual heritage. But as long as the mean season stays alive, unity will be a goal that is nearly impossible to attain.
