Politics – it’s not a four-letter word, but it’s rapidly becoming a dirty word. Candidates running for office seem to be more occupied with attacking each another with socially charged comments, such as, “The American left hates Christendom. They hate Western civilization” (thank you Rick Santorum). This is tather than providing the public with insight into what needs to be done in order to pull our country out of a nosedive.
The current presidential race is beginning to look like a grade school playground fight. It’s full of name-calling, backhanded commentary and, if we all get lucky enough, maybe they’ll start throwing punches. Politics was intended to make electing representatives easier.
Commentary coming from Republicans during this presidential race has been especially charged with sentiments that are less than favorable to the American public.
Mitt Romney, whose net worth is estimated to be over $200 million, claims he is also unemployed, stating that he has been “afraid of getting a pink slip” at times in his life. His attempts to relate to middle and working class Americans is making it increasingly clear that the better choice would be to pencil in Mickey Mouse on the ballot and hope for the best.
With comments like these, politics is leaving a sour taste in America’s mouth. In previous elections, which have been equally charged with ignorant commentary, the subjects that needed to be talked about were at least getting attention with potential candidates.
But currently, who you marry and what women should do with their bodies, which are both entirely private matters, have been seemingly at the forefront of political discussion.
Some candidates believe these issues take precedence over our trainwreck economy. Santorum recently said, “The issue in this race is not the economy.” In reality, it’s been everyone’s concern for the past four years as we all desperately scramble from job application to paycheck.
While the current president seemingly hasn’t done much to help the economy or the country, as a whole, he’s done what he can, considering having a Congress full of representatives that wish to do anything in their power to keep a Democrat from doing any good for the United States.
Politicians have become concerned with power, not the common good. With this trend, it is nearly impossible to have a nation united and moving towards improvement in any aspect.
This creates a system where the representatives do not represent the people, but instead, represent the interests of the few in power.
Some candidates have even gone as far as to declare personal beliefs that are the complete opposite of what is written in the Constitution. Santorum recently said in an interview with ABC News, “I don’t believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute.”
America is not a theocracy, but a democracy where the power is left to the people. If this current trend continues, America is headed for a series of political debates filled with pure mud slinging and hardly any real substantive information on what the candidates believe is best for America.
This will eventually lead to apathy of the public, and who knows, maybe Mickey Mouse would be an OK president.