On Friday night, Republican Senate nominee Sharron Angle and Senator John McCain epitomized the polarity of our current political system. The rally they held in Nevada was filled with witty one liners and presentations given by prominent Republicans, all filled with attacks against the incumbent Democratic-majority government.
If find it slightly depressing that our government, founded on compromise, has turned towards a political atmosphere where, instead of advocating compromise, is filled with absolutes. For example, instead of saying that she would work towards fixing the healthcare system, she made the bold claim that she would work towards the complete repealing of "Obamacare."
Is there really no middle ground?
Even Angle admitted the polar nature of the system, telling voters present that they were participating in an "election of contrasts," in order to galvanize support for herself and her party. Along with Angle, the rally also hosted speeches by others such as actor Jon Voight, who claims that Obama is a "radical socialist," and that he is "more sympathetic with our enemies than our allies." Both of these comments garnered tremendous applause.
I don't know about you, but I feel that for such comments to appear in a political rally only further solidifies the polar nature of the whole system. I find it just repulsing that people who flat-out insult any presidency or find sympathy with enemies to be unacceptable can still gain support among the voters of our day and age.
We are falling into a hole, a hole where, if we do not climb our way out, will land us in a unacceptable position where political action is based not on the good of the nation, but on the party currently in power. I believe that voters must recognize this problem, and distance ourselves from politicians who dare continue to not acknowledge the benefits of the other side of an issue.
1 comment:
Agreed. Unfortunately, most voters, though acknowledging the problem, do nothing to stop it. Even worse, the fact that polarization shows no signs of stopping indicates that polarization works. Perhaps this indicates a fundamental problem within the voters: That most registered voters are more radical than the majority of Americans and therefore respond more to polarization. It is likely that this is because the average American is turned off to politics either due to polarization or the media's pessimistic view of politics. I say that we need to get more moderates into the political voting system. When politicians realize that voters react badly to radicalism, only then will the politicians reform themselves.
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