Divided We Fall
My ballot is cast. The little oval marks beside the candidate’s names couldn’t be filled more properly with a machine. It’s done.
Change may come, but I’m not necessarily convinced in the proportions. The candidates have analyzed the likelihood of winning based on populist rhetoric and have proclaimed “healthcare like we enjoy (senators)” “no new taxes” and the typically divisive topic of “pro-life/pro-choice.” This all comes to us in Joe-The-Plumber simplified freakenomics even though our jobs are dwindling, the economy is in shambles and our environment is degraded to the point of global change. When will candidates be willing to honestly say, “Listen folks, we need to change ourselves.” In a country as religious as this one, one would think people would be more willing to consider the effects of their daily lives.
I attended a Joe Biden rally recently and saw change. I noticed the Red and Blue divide actually fading. There were people from the countryside, who are proclaimed to be conservatively Republican, cheering for an african american candidate who leans far to the left. Not only that, but there were people of all colors and economic backgrounds getting excited about the possibility of being a part of something that could possibly move the country forward.
In a recent issue of The New York Times Magazine they confront Obama’s seeking of the “white man’s vote.” Obama talks about the divisiveness of politics in the recent past and the whole Red State/Blue State phenomenon.