IS IT THE NATION, OR IS IT JUST ME AND MY CIRCLE?

A few days ago, I started soliciting feedback about the upcoming presidential election from my various friends & family about who they thought would win and why. As you might expect, people had a whole host of opinions. What I was not prepared for was the common thread in the answers I got, at least not until I saw them all put together. Only a few were based on reasoning or issues, and some were downright nothing but negative emotions. Some anonymous excerpts e-mailed to me:

“I believe that Kerry will win because I can’t handle the other thought.”
“I believe Bush will win. It is hard to beat a president during times of war. Personally I truly don't like either.”
“If Bush wins, it will be because people don’t want to change administrations in the midst of turmoil. If Kerry wins, it will be because the people are gullible, and would rather stick their heads in the sand & not be willing to defend our country.”
“My belief that Bush will win was best articulated by Bill Maher: ‘John Kerry is a crummy candidate.’ ”
“Voting for either one of these guys is like asking you how you want your broccoli prepared - boiled or steamed. You gotta eat it but either way is repellant.”
“John Kerry is on nobody's side but his own and his only goal is an avaricious desire to hold power in this country. He will say, and has said, ANYTHING he thinks will bring him that power on election day.”

I also find it interesting that as little as a week ago I was hearing from a number of people that they were voting for Candidate X, but they thought their man would lose. That has changed in the past week, as almost everyone now believes that whoever they’re supporting will win, and a few think their candidate will win in a surprise landslide.
(There were 2 people who sent in their musings who had not yet decided whom to vote for.) I also spoke with a number of others who expressed similar opinions, ranging from “I hate to think what will happen to this country if Kerry wins” to “It doesn’t matter who wins because both parties look alike. All you’re doing is choosing your executioner.”

Wow. I thought I could be cynical.

What’s more disturbing to me is that people are angry, but doing little about it other than voting (which is admittedly better than what 45% of the country is likely to do). And, we’re voting in many cases without actually knowing what we’re voting for or against. Just to be clear, I don’t think nor am trying to intimate that those that responded knows nothing about the issues because I’ve discussed issues with some of the respondents who gave me an emotional answer this time. I even got 3 e-mails that were extremely detailed, remarkably free of vitriol, cynicism or fear, and focused on nothing but issues. But seeing all the responses lumped together (and I got a lot), I can say that most of the people that I got answers back from aren’t making their decisions based on much past emotion, whether anger, fear, or hatred. And if we can’t make decisions based on anything factual, then why should our candidates give us anything other than fear-mongering, finger-pointing, and pandering to the lowest common denominator?

So, instead of me drawing conclusions or offering suggestions, how about this: let’s go for another round of feedback.

1) What issues are you most concerned about, and how will your candidate fix or improve those issues?
2) What can we as individuals do to get better candidates at the national level that we’re not doing now?
3) What will you personally do to help make a difference, however small, that you are not currently doing now?

Hit the “comments” link below, or e-mail me at Randall@hamsterballstudios.com. Again, no names will be used. Note even code names.