In light of the final presidential debate Wednesday night, I'dlike to address a regrettable observation I've made regardingmanners. I have seen an alarming amount of ugliness, rudeness anddisrespectfulness surrounding this year's general elections - orrather, the candidates.
In the last few minutes of the debate, both Senator John Kerryand President George W. Bush spoke about a division among theAmerican people. Moderator Bob Schieffer asked the candidates ifthey would prioritize bringing the nation back together. Kerry saidthat in the days following September 11, there were no democrats orrepublicans in Congress -- only Americans. He said there are moreideological squabbles now than ever before, and that he wants tofind the common ground. President Bush agreed, saying his biggestregret about Washington D.C. is how partisan the town is.
Regardless of partisan views, both candidates have goodintentions for the future of this country, and their hearts are inthe right place.
I've seen the division they speak of here on campus among myfriends and fellow students. However, rather than debating witheach other in a respectful and civilized manner, I've seenridiculous shouting matches break out in the most unimaginableplaces between the closest of friends. We all need to grow up andrealize that fighting with each other isn't going to get ourfavorite candidate elected and it's not going to convince others tosee things our way.
In Wednesday night's debate, the candidates tackled somecontroversial issues including abortion, gay marriage and religion.However, the night was not without humor and entertainment. It'sworth noting that Bush began to take a cheap shot at CBS News fortheir lack of credibility before realizing the moderator of thedebate worked for CBS. Kerry showed his vulnerable side andmispronounced the word "idea" several times, saying "idear." Weneed to consider the humor and focus on the positive, rather thanbashing the candidates for any number of superficialshortcomings.
Wolfe Blitzer said there are an increasing number of votersregistered in this election year. Public opinion polls show it's atossup. It's no wonder people are taking this election personally.Politics is by far one of the most contentious topics, aside fromreligion, that anyone can bring up. Everybody has strong feelingsabout one issue or another, and there are topics in this campaignthat hit close to home for all of us. I only suggest that, whentrying to persuade friends or classmates to vote for one candidateor another, we consider each other's feelings and ideas. There isno reason that bright college students can't debate politicswithout turning the discussion into a disgraceful episode of CNN'sCrossfire, cutting each other off and insulting one another'sintelligence and integrity.
It doesn't matter that Kerry puts too much emphasis on hisalleged purple hearts or that Bush can't say "nuclear." At the endof the day, we're all Americans. We have to come to terms with thefact that our candidate of choice may lose this election, and weneed to start focusing on the positive characteristics of bothcandidates. The next time an argument breaks out about the upcomingelection, have some dignity. Treat others the way you want to betreated. You could either join Bush's "army of compassion," orconsider what Kerry's mother said from her deathbed: "Integrity,integrity, integrity."
Write to Alyssa at
akmiller@bsu.edu
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