Judgment Day

I stood in a small booth, my hands at the will of democracy. The freedom of our great nation summoned me here, allowing me to put my two cents on the makeup of our country for years to come … and I had no idea what to do.

I had browsed through the proposition packet while standing in line. Perhaps it was self-pride that brought me to this obscure voting location to fulfill my obligation as a constructive citizen. I was doing it; I was getting out to vote! P. Diddy would be so proud.

Yet I found myself looking at the choices for president and was perplexed with my options: John Kerry or George W. Bush? Was this really the best our nation could come up with to lead us?

That’s when it hit me; there is something seriously wrong with our election process.

We have the best form of government, yet our faulty election process creates a debilitated bureaucracy.

The initial red flag that our election process is rather deficient became evident with the 2000 debacle, which proved that having a greater percentage of votes doesn’t guarantee victory.

Beyond the Electoral College catastrophe, I believe politics have become far too much of a war between the left and right wing. The fact that they are nicknamed "left" and "right" wing says it all – there’s no other wing to choose. It is one side or the other and I believe it is ridiculous to think that one side has the answer on every issue. Our selection process needs to revolve more around the candidates themselves and their campaign platform rather than the party they represent.

The liberal versus conservative battle that has become the epicenter of the presidential struggle is hurting us from finding a strong leader. If the candidates were not attached to a specific party, people would have to look at more imminent reasons to give a person their vote.

I will come right out and admit that I am not a huge fan of politics. A friend of mine, who is the kind of guy who has been planning his rise to the White House since he was five, would tell me that it is essential to be educated in politics and would stress the importance of representing a specific party. I could see that his argument was battle tested enough to where I assume he’s probably right. Nonetheless, my vote counts just as much as his, and the majority of the country is as uneducated in political affairs as I am, yet we all have equal voting rights.

Furthermore, we tend to expect far too much from these presidential candidates. We not only look for a person to be a powerful leader, but an all-around flawless individual. They must have a squeaky clean record, so clean we can practically see our own reflection when looking at them. Every aspect of the the nominee’s background is brought into question - their religion, their family, their culture, what they did in college, what they didn’t do in college, whether they’re married, who they’re married to, how nice the person they’re married to is, whether or not Oprah supports them, etc.

The fact is the presidential race becomes a search for the ideal being – and that is someone who just doesn’t exist. It is important to try to estimate what the entirepotential administration of each candidate may be, rather than solely focusing on the potential Oval Office tenant. After all it is democracy, not a dictatorship.

With that in mind, we should at least be thankful that we have the opportunity to elect our leader as a nation, even if the current process is a little flawed. By the end of today we will have a new commander in chief, and whether or not your choice becomes the president, I ask that you support whoever is. Like it or not, the newly elected president will lead us for the next four years, and a nation united is stronger than a nation divided. We can complain about our election process, our president and our country, but ultimately we must live with the outcome, so we may as well embrace it. If we do this, only then can America truly begin living up to its potential.