It is unfortunate, but none the less true that American politics have fallen far out of the range of reasoned debates regarding legislation and policies, into a celebrity like circus of insults. I am sickened by the way the recent election has been going and will continue to go so it seems.
The previously contesting Democratic candidates slung insults and rants regarding eachothers personalites-not policies. In fact, the two potential candidates did not differ much in political idealogy or policy at all. Thus the entire nation erupted into a circus of posting unflattering photos, bashing each candidates personalities, etc. The fact that at the Republican convention many attendees wore a button that asked "If Obama wins can we still call it the White House?" is absolutely outrageous. How has American politics taken such a turn for the worse? John McCain suffers from very little scrutiny at all, because the media has been so set on the battle between Hillary and Obama. Now that Obama has been named the Democratic candidate many democrats are throwing in the towel because they are so pro-Hillary and anti Obama they have lost track of what they should be voting on-political policy.
Of course personality is important in a Presidential election, but the way the media has turned the attention to the personalites and backgrounds (wives, friends, churches, etc.) of these candidates is ludacris. I feel that very little has been discussed regarding what the Presidential candidates have to offer as far as legislation and what they will actually do for our country, but instead all of the focus has been on slamming their opponents statements.
It is time for American politics to grow up or else we will face the next four years full of bickering similar to teen celebrities from our president whomever it may be.
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I completely agree that the current state of political debates is practically sickening, and the real issues need to be highlighted. However, we have to remember that the political debates that we see on television are meant for entertainment. The political candidates know that, unless their viewers have lost the television remote, they are very apt to simply switch the channel the moment the debate addresses real issues and fails to entertain. The only way the candidates can get the public to hear them out is to focus on personality or personal background. Something that more closely resembles high school drama than politics will make the voting public listen. So, can you really blame the candidates for just trying to get their name out there?
The mass media controls politics; that, we cannot deny. Correcting the whole flawed world of politics would be almost impossible, so now, we have to settle for Jerry Springer-like debates as opposed to discussing the actual issues. The only thing we can do is to educate ourselves and those around us to the best of our abilities.
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