My roommates and I have managed to achieve a great feat: a bipartisan living situation. I am of one politician persuasion and they are of the other, and yet we have managed to co-exist and even discuss politics without coming to blows or even insults.
Looking around at the country today, this seems like some sort of miracle. A non-heated political discussion? Unheard of. A debate about the government that doesn't become an argument? Nonsense!
But I can proudly say that the Disney princess nametags outside our room have calmly carried both a McCain/Palin pin and an Obama/Biden pin, side by side. (That is, of course, until some politically charged vandal decided to rip one down.)
This utopian living situation is in stark contrast to what I see daily outside of our room.
Whenever politics come up, the badges come out and tempers flair.
As a country and as a campus we have reached the point where the election is treated like the Super Bowl. You've picked your team to win and you're betting your country on it. Now you must display as much election flair as possible, not just showing support for your team but condemning the other.
I can't really criticize here, because I've done it too, but if you step back and look at the attitude with which we approach politics today, it becomes a bit comical.
No one wants to talk, they just want to spar. No one wants to hear what the other guy has to say, because simply by the nature of his existence, he must be wrong. Now tell me, where does this attitude end up being beneficial?
In one week, the election will be over and we will have a new president. We, as in all of us, will have a new president. He won't be governing half of the country, his "winning" half, he will we governing all of us. You and your mortal political enemies. We will all follow his lead and experience his take on laws.
How can it be that we have practically demonized the man who, let's face it, has a 50 percent chance of being our president? It's not fair to you or your countrymen.
I have my posters and pins, my arguments ready-at-hand to be used when challenged, my 15-point list as to why I am voting the way I am, but honestly, the only one who cares to hear it is me.
What good does wearing my guy's t-shirt do? It encourages those of my political persuasion, but they were voting for him anyway.
It also immediately polarizes those with an opposing view. This works for sports, not for politics.
Yea, I say unto you, keep your comments civil, don't be politically swayed by the loudest person in the room, and be ready to support whoever lives in the White House come January.
