The Political Show

I had a discussion about politics with my family the other day, but it wasn't really about politics. It was about some of the candidates running for president, particularly Mr. Barack Obama, the popular Illinois Senator fighting for the Democratic nomination. I say it wasn't about politics because our conversation had nothing to do with Obama's qualifications as a president, but rather about his family heritage and ethnicity. My father claimed he would never vote for him because he was Middle Eastern (he is in fact of Kenyan descent) and that he was a Muslim (Obama was baptized into the Trinity United Church of Christ). We also discussed how Johnathon Edwards was a not a viable candidate because of his wife's physical condition, and McCain's ailing health was also discussed.

I was shocked that they could discriminate against a political candidate for reasons that had no bearing on their ability to serve in office, especially since some of the reasons were simply not true to begin with. It got me thinking, and I realized that it's probably no different in any household across the U.S. The presidential election, just like any popular election, is a popularity contest. People will vote for Edwards because he's a nice guy, minorities will vote for Obama because they can identify with him, McCain will get votes because he acts tough against terrorism, Clinton will attract fans of her husband simply because of their relationship, and so on and so forth. Their views on important issues are often unknown, or not completely known, to the average voter.

I got frustrated during the conversation, but I realized that I'm no different than my parents. I'm more inclined to be attracted to Edwards and Obama because of their openly religious beliefs, and their shared anti-Iraq attitude. I'm hesitant to side with my traditional Republican candidates because of the stigma attached with the Iraq war, since McCain and Gulianni seem ready to take over where Bush left off. However, I'm letting these hot button issues effect my judgement on other important issues. For example, Obama is pro-choice, which I strongly disagree with, while McCain is pro-life and has shown that though he supports the war on terrorism, he's not hesitant to expose the faults, such as his open criticism of the use of torture (or "questionable interrogation methods") by the Bush administration. I find that I'm not really taking the full spectrum of issues into consideration, and instead I'm focusing on the ones that get the most media attention.

I saw a political cartoon today that reiterated why a politician shouldn't be judged by their personal life. It had a priest baptizing McCain into a water that was labeled "Religion," with all the other candidates on shore anxiously awaiting their turn to be immersed. The message - religious faith goes a long way in this country, and any candidate claiming to be a Christian is going to tap into the reservoir of the Religious Right, the massive group that kept Bush in office in 2004. When I identify myself with Obama because of his proclaimed Christian faith and ignore the issues, I could be making my decision based on a facade. In a sense, I may be falling into the trap set by the army of publicists that surround each candidate.

Therefore, I've decided that I am going to be an issue-focused voter this election. I am going to put in the extra work to weigh the pros and cons of each person before I make my decision. I will do my best to ignore the candidate portrayed in the media and focus on the political record of each person. I believe that having the facts in hand and then aligning those facts with my faith is the best way to pick who I really support.