Election Warfare Fuels American Uncertainty: An Outsider’s Opinion

The candidate for the Republican Party in the upcoming presidential election will be decided between two men; Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Regardless of who the winner is, they will be pitted against incumbent, President Barack Obama. It is an uphill battle, trying to unseat a president who is bidding for a second term. However, it was only two short presidents ago that George H. W. Bush was unseated by Bill Clinton after one term.

I do believe Obama will win and don’t think it will be close. Hints of my predicted landslide are already presenting themselves. Both Republican candidates seem to lack the overall popularity that Obama enjoyed during his 2008 presidential run.

Americans will most likely focus on two glaring facts about the GOP hopefuls. Mitt Romney has millions of dollars in offshore accounts that the American public could perceive as untrustworthy and dodging American taxes. Newt Gingrich is a well-documented two time divorcee who has been connected with multiple incidents of adultery.

There are other things more troubling for the American people than the questions that arise when talking about each candidate. To me, it seems that Americans are more fragmented and divided than ever before on issues, candidates and the entire electoral process.

Michele Bachmann made waves throughout her tumultuous run for president. One large sticking point was her lack of willingness to discuss her husband and his clinic that allegedly uses reparative therapy to turn gay people straight. As you can imagine, this was not improving her chances of winning the candidacy by any means.

More concerning to me was an interview she gave in late June. Like many Conservatives, she would like to see more power return to the states. She would also like a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Two separate issues for the politically educated.

However, to the lay people of America, this could be seen as a direct contradiction. Something that I fear happens more frequently in today’s political climate. It seems that these candidates take all the things that are important to their perceived constituents and just glue them together into a disconnected and incoherent commentary.

Nevermind that it most likely won’t make sense within the context of the conversation, so long as they are on record saying the right things. With it on record, the media could pull those quotes out and brandish them in any way they see fit, themselves also potentially leaving out the overall context of the conversation in which the comment occurred.

Moving on to my biggest concern, Election Warfare.

Some people might not approve of this title but it could be the most honest way to describe the election process. When someone submits their candidacy, there is no safe zone or section of their lives that is off limits. Opponents search tirelessly for weak points and then exploit those flaws to the point where the candidate becomes a caricature in the public image.

On January 15th, Jon Huntsman dropped his presidential bid and then announced his support for Mitt Romney. If you can’t beat them, join them, right? This is where Americans, like myself, begin to question the candidates and ourselves. On January 9th, Huntsman appeared on CNBC claiming that Romney was making decisions that were making him “completely unelectable.”

I’m not a Huntsman supporter but I can place myself in their shoes for a minute: Wait, you’re telling me that the man you spent months decrying and calling unelectable just six days ago is now the man you say we should show our unfailing support for?

Can you see why Americans are so frustrated with the political process? It’s that type of hypocrisy that gives Americans pause.

Presidential hopefuls spend months cutting each other down, exposing every flaw and weak point of their opponent, only to give up their own race and join with the very people they spent months discrediting. The only thing that comes from this attempt to elevate oneself by tearing down those around them is that it makes Americans unsure and less confident in their governmental leadership.

It accomplishes nothing positive or constructive. Americans are stuck in a world of uncertainty. The person they were convinced was the best choice is now endorsing someone they said was the worst choice. Suddenly, the voters lose confidence in both individuals and enter into political limbo.

My opinion is that candidates spend 25% of their time telling the public what they can do for the country and the other 75% explaining what their opponent can’t do for the country. No president, senator, representative or governor has a chance at being even remotely credible in the public’s opinion because their opponents spent months planting seeds of doubt in citizens’ minds.

Americans like me are clamoring for a return to civility in the political process. I want a candidate who elevates themselves by proving that their ideas are better than everyone else’s, not by explaining why someone else’s ideas lack credibility.

Could you imagine if candidates were constructive and spent a majority of their time formulating great ideas to progress our country? If candidates said, “This person has some good ideas, but here are the reasons why mine are better…”, how much more supportive would our country be of their leadership?

Like many Americans, I’m sick of seeing attack ad after attack ad and seeing debates where candidates spend more time discrediting the others on stage than talking about how their plans could help progress the country into the next generation.

We want politicians that talk more about their future plans than their opponent’s track record. We want leadership that stands up for what they believe in but understands progress is born out of compromise. Research suggests that the American population has maintained a fairly level amount of polarization over the past 40 years. However, as our governmental leaders become more polarized, options for progress become less abundant.

Will it take a political civil war for Americans to realize that we’ve gone too far?


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