When the New Year began, I realized with a deep sigh that we were entering an election year. My deep sigh was related to how much I have grown to despise what happens in election years. The first few months usually consist of a party attacking itself followed by the choosing of a candidate and then the two parties attacking each other. Oh how I long for a political season in which the focus is simply on the strengths of an individual and not on the weaknesses of the opponent.
How did we end up here? Have elections in our country always been this vitriolic? Or did it happen slowly over time and, if so, why? Perhaps our politicians should take some lessons from students. If you have ever spent time in a middle or high school where elections occur, you would notice how little “fighting” there is and how much focus is put on the strength of a candidate. Okay, so maybe a 12 or 15 year old doesn’t have as much dirt to dig up as an adult. But maybe it’s more than that. Maybe students understand that you still have to live with your opponent long after the election is over.
What would happen to our election season if we sent all of the candidates to a deserted island and left them there until after the election? They could communicate, do debates via satellite link and churn out whatever they wished. The difference is they would have to live with the ones against whom they are running. They would eat together, sleep together and hang out together. They would end up having to look each other in the eye every single day. Better yet, their ticket off the island would be when they choose a candidate and put forth solutions to the top 5 problems of the country! Okay, I realize you are thinking that the chosen candidate would just be the bully or the one who had eaten or killed the rest. However, I have an innate belief in the goodness of humankind and prefer to think they would get productive. I am intrigued enough to want us to try it some time.
Anyone can sling mud at another person. It takes an extraordinary person to live with people in community and to learn to listen, empathize and work together. Isn’t that the kind of person we want running our country?
We are lost in the quagmire of partisanship and one-upsmanship. Meanwhile, our ship is sinking. Isn’t a big part of the problem that in order for someone to get to the “top” of the political ladder they have had to sell their soul along the way? How can we change that? How can we make it so money isn’t the most important thing?
I long for a political season that is exciting and stimulating and invites all kinds of new ideas and solutions. Don’t you? It seems it may have to come from the grass roots and that means you and me. How can we enter the dialogue? And what does Occupy Wall Street have to say to and in the dialogue? And lastly, Newt Gingrich? Really? Oops, I guess if it begins with me I have to look for the solutions and not the problems…