The spin, the rhetoric, the ideology, it’s all there. Looking at this election as an outsider one might even venture to assume that this presidential election season is no different than any other election in the recent past. One would be wrong. For starters the internet factor that played such a huge role in the 2000 and 2004 elections is an even greater factor today. No longer is mainstream and conservative media the dominating factor. People get their information from a variety of sources. Group think has become quite pervasive as internet activists find a virtual soapbox and megaphone to broadcast their views and recruit followers.
Make no mistake about it. This election, though not quite as divisive as the 2004 election, is definitely not about bringing the country together. It’s more about people voting against someone than voting for someone. A good deal of the former Hillary supporters really don’t want to vote for Barack Obama. And left with the only alternative being to vote for John McCain and 4 more years of Bush policies that will follow if he is elected they find the drive to vote against him even stronger. On the other hand, let’s not forget that John McCain wasn’t exactly the conservative right’s first pick for their presidential nominee. In fact the irony here is that the very qualities that John McCain possesses that give him even the very smallest of chances at winning the presidency are the very reasons most far right conservatives will cringe a little when they cast their vote for him but, more importantly, against Obama in November.
So the next time you are discussing politics don’t ask the obvious question of whom the other conversation participants are voting for, ask the more interesting question of whom they are voting against, and why.
