One Thing is Certain - America Will Have a New Party Leader on November 5th

It is the day before American’s go to the polls to elect a new President – the media is in a frenzy, and tensions and tempers are high – today.
Tomorrow when we go to the polls, we will cast ballots for the individual who we feel will do the best job for the country and the one which we feel has values that most closely match our own. What one must also understand, is that whoever is in the Office of the President, is also the leader the a particular party; following a party platform developed by those within the party, a set of guidelines if you will, that lays out a plan for leadership and a direction of for the country. It is safe to say therefore that, be it Republican or be it Democrat, both parties have a unique vision of the direction our country should take, and the members of the party, have chosen a leader to move that agenda forward. The electorate (those who voice their opinion by casting a vote), play a small, but important part in all of this – and the right to vote, is one of the most important benefits of our Republic; it gives each and every citizen the ability to have a say in who will lead the nation and their respective Party. We are privileged to live in a nation that allows the common person to have a say in their government – what is most disturbing is that some, for whatever reason, feel their vote does count. These are the individuals who do have an opinion, and a preference, yet, either to not register to vote, or neglect to vote, and then, have plenty to say once the die is cast.

The 2008 election is no different than any other - with glaring exceptions – the amount of time all American’s have had to choose one over the other has been extended (the media is already running bits on the 2012 race, and in some instances, polling has begun); a steady diet of news and entertainment programs has assailed the public for over two years. 2008 has brought about unprecedented amounts of media coverage, and three firsts – Hillary Clinton, the first woman to run for the Democrat nomination, Barack Obama, the first African American to run and obtain the Democrat Nomination, and Sarah Palin, the first woman to be nominated to a Republican ticket. The media has played a great part in this group of firsts by turning it into a drama of sorts; Sexism was rampant in reporting; Hillary Clinton received more negative press than her opponent, Obama – not about policy, rather, her laugh, her choice of clothing and her makeup were center stage. Sarah Palin has been through a meat-grinder; the press, not found of Conservatives to begin with, took what little restraint, if any, they had applied to Clinton, and abandoned that completely in their treatment of Palin. Race was also brought to the forefront; the idea that one would not vote for Obama because of race, became the theme. Never once, was it played in the media that perhaps someone would not vote for Obama because of policy or lack of experience. Is there racism in America? Absolutely, now more than ever – perhaps some of us have been living under a rock for the past twenty years, thinking that yes, certainly there may be racists here and there, or sexists, but surely, isolated at best, as we have diversity programs in our schools, our communities are integrated, our country is made great by inclusion, and intelligence has trumped ignorance – apparently not. What the media has brought out in the general public is ugly, and it was done deliberately based on a political bias as well as an economical bias (ratings) – the constant drumbeat has further divided us – by political party, gender and race.

When a president is chosen, by the people and for the people, regardless of which President we have on Wednesday morning, the world will not end – we have rooted for our candidates, they have done their best to get a message out to the public, and, because we live in a Republic, a leader will be chosen by a majority. That majority may end up being a million votes, or 20 votes in New Hampshire, but it is the process that should make each and every one of us grateful and proud to be a citizen of this great nation. Whoever is elected should have the full support of the people, should be given a chance to perform and prove that they are worthy of the job that we, the people, hired them to do. Should that President not perform, in four years, they will be replaced – it is the process. The fact that so many American’s become emotionally vested in a particular candidate, aided by the media’s constant drumbeat and the candidate as “movie star” syndrome that developed this election cycle, is perhaps, the biggest hurdle to face the day after the election. Yes, there should be some disappointment if one’s candidate is not chosen, but that is where it should end – we should defy the media and the hype created in this election year (as in the past 8 elections one can recall that each was titled “the most important election”), and go about our business, supporting the new President until 2010 when the entire process begins again.