Raves, Rants & Roses

RANT: It's no secret that the candidates running for office find more value in degrading their opponent than running on their own merit. The goal for them is to sell the other guy short in hopes that your fear of the opposition is the driving force in your vote.

However, I have noticed in the last couple of presidential races the people are getting in the business of selling each other short.

Community members and fellow Americans are not viewing the race as one candidate versus another but one group of supporters versus another.

What's wrong with voting for who you are going to vote for based on your own ideas of the candidate you are voting for and then just letting it be at that?

Too often I have noticed people pick who they are going to vote for and then instead of letting that be enough they get in the business of trying to convince others that the person they are not voting for is going to lead us into the apocalypse.

First off, that is selling the candidate you are going to vote for short. If the person you are voting for won your support on their own merit then their own merit should suffice in trying to convince others to support him.

Secondly, that is selling other people short. You were able to independently decide who you are going to vote for, why not give others that same credit? I am not saying that we are not free to try to convince others to vote against "the other guy." We are free to do so. I question the ego it takes to do so. I view attempts to convince me that Obama is too inexperienced or McCain is too old as condescending. Why sell us short?

Why think your powers of assessing a candidate are greater than mine? My theory is that we do that because we recognize the power of fear. FDR said, “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” He was right. I am not voting for who I am voting for based on fear, but on hope. The hope that we are better than we give each other credit for. I am of the belief that we are a party unto ourselves. The party of “We the People.” We are not McCain supporters or arms of his campaign, and we are not Obama supporters and an arm of his campaign. We are the people. One person equals one vote. You vote for who you are going to vote for, and I vote for who I am going to vote for. When the votes are tallied, the winner of the most electoral votes is the next president, and we go have a beer together. I would be selling you short if I assumed your reasons for voting for a candidate is based on some flaw you have as a person.

What is it about Sen. John McCain that prevents those that are voting for him from arguing that he should be president based on his own merit? McCain is an honorable man with years of public service and sacrifice under his belt. His positions on issues are clear, and some not so clear.

Sen. Barack Obama is an improbable story and a man that has years of public service under his belt at the community level, at the state level and eventually at the federal level. His positions on issues are clear, and some not so clear.

One man helped ensured that the American Dream lived on and the other man showed that the American Dream is alive and well. They are both good men with a common goal. They just differ on how to achieve that goal. That's where "We the People" come in. We decide as a party unto ourselves whose ideas we think might better lead to that common goal. Lately though, it seems like "We the People" are selling each other short by assuming that once we choose who we are voting for we are obligated to evangelize against the other guy. I give you the same credit I give myself. Therefore, I will make my decision on who I vote for based on me and relegate your reasons for voting for who you vote for to you. In the end, we don't sell ourselves or each other short and we avoid breaking the 9th Commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

Toby Wahl
Tyler