(Political) Party Lines

Election Day is fast approaching here in the U.S., arriving November 7.

For me, it can't come fast enough.

Over the past few months, and especially the last month, we've seen vast campaigning by incumbent and potential Senators, Congressmen, Governors, and more. The political parties are slinging so much mud that my car got stuck on the way to work this morning, and millions are being made in the car wash market.

Some weeks back, a widely known Republican was accused of sending racy emails to the teenage Congressional pages. He quickly resigned, and talk of a vast cover-up surfaced, that apparently these racy emails had been going on for some time.

This came on the heels of a few other Republican controversies, and some, including President Bush, cried foul. He called it "convenient" that all these things were being reported so close to election time. Jon Stewart retorted, "yes, how convenient that something is reported after it happens!" John Kerry was vilified for a speech where he told students who didn't study hard could get "stuck in Iraq." Kerry was urged to apologize - and he did - to the United States Armed Forces. I thought it was a horrible thing to say - until I read the full text of the speech. Kerry was basically calling George Bush stupid. Is that better? Not really. But in this climate, such a thing can be devastating.

This "conspiracy" against political parties goes even further. Some Republicans thought it "convenient" that North Korea began testing nuclear weapons, coincidentally around election time. Somehow this was a bid to take the Republicans out of power. And just today, Saddam Hussein was sentenced to death in Iraq. How convenient, thought the Democrats. Somehow this was a stunt to show the war in Iraq was worth it, swaying votes to the Republicans. Yes, somehow world events are happening that are a direct impact on the election, and these events are being arranged by the Republicans and Democrats.

And so it has gone on, in what I think has to be one of the dirtiest campaign seasons I've known. It's no longer "I have respect for my opponent," it's "my opponent eats babies." President Bush has gotten on the campaign trail, supporting his fellow Republicans. His speeches, at least the parts that I've heard, make it sound as if a vote for a Democrat is a vote for a psychotic axe-murderer who will come into your house at night and kill you in your sleep.

It seems Congress and the Senate has turned into a high school dominated by cliques. A Democrat can't be seen with a Republican, or he/she just wouldn't be "cool." Any hope of a bi-partisan solution on certain issues seems doomed because it's our way or the highway. No gray area. Either your really Republican or really Democrat. If you don't agree with the party majority or don't use those talking points, you're just not part of the party.

Again, this is just the impression that I get. It could be something that the media has cooked up - or it could just be something that the media is accentuating, which they have a BIG tendency to do on many issues. For all we know this is yet another conspiracy concocted by the government, a conspiracy drawn up to get us all more interested in politics and more interested in voting.

In his farewell address, our first president, George Washington, commented on the evils of political parties, and said that the parties that had developed at the time should come together for the good of the country. He also urged that morality was a "necessary spring of popular government." Wow. Why have these words been forgotten? Morality is not something I've seen awhile from many a politician.

I just don't see how these candidates can publicly flog their opponents and expect us to trust them in office. You've just thrown someone in front of a bus, you deserve my vote!

Ugh. But anyway. I'm tired of all the negativity. I get enough negativity in real life, I don't need it force fed me on TV. This is why I can't wait for the elections to be done.