Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama debated last Wednesday, and I had no idea about it until the next morning.
My mom knew about it. Checking political Web sites the following day, there was plenty of pre- and post-debate analysis – so much so, in fact, I didn’t even need to watch the debate to feel like an informed and patriotic American. Anyway, we’ve been through this routine so many times I could as easily have guessed what they talked about without the aid of the world wide web: Obama maybe brought up Clinton’s vote for the war in Iraq. Clinton probably brought up Obama’s lack of “experience,” and most certainly used a comment of his about guns and religion to paint a picture of him as out of touch with American mainstream society.
Still, I feel as if I’m not alone around here in having had no idea about the debate – what with the downright insane student elections we just held. They were filled with so much scandal, so much controversy and shamelessness in their own right, how can anyone on our campus be expected to give a damn about federal politics right now?
I could say that, anyway. There’s just one problem. Tomorrow marks the arrival of Pennsylvania’s presidential primaries – an event so highly anticipated you’d think He Himself were coming down from the clouds to anoint a president for life.
That may be pushing it a bit. But I’m just so sick of politics. Can you blame me? There are just so many other things to worry about besides the state of our nation. I’ve gained a few pounds and feel like I should be hitting the rec center more often, for one. I need to find an apartment to live in next year. I haven’t been to my political science class since Week 1, and I still don’t have a girlfriend.
How’s that for apathetic?
The worst thing about it is, it didn’t have to be this way. And that applies whether we’re talking about the next president of the United States or the next president of the ASUO, though I think most of us agree that enough had been said about the ASUO probably around last Wednesday. There are so many alternatives to our current nomination process; all it takes is a little imagination to come up with a better system than the one currently being employed.
Take the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. They epitomize what’s wrong with our politics today. Once upon a time, we actually nominated our party’s candidates there. Now it’s all for show; there’s nothing left to do as far as the political parties are concerned except celebrate how awesome they are. And they pull no punches. I wonder how many Sudanese refugees we could provide shelter to with the money it will take to buy those balloons and confetti.
I’m tempted to give our government the benefit of the doubt, by assuming the people who devised our electoral process were pure in intention. But with our political process so drawn out and calculated, my faith is hanging on by a thread. It’s hard to imagine things always having been this way. Surely more people would have written about it.
There’s not a whole lot I’m looking forward to in the near future, as far as politics is concerned. Which isn’t to say you shouldn’t find something. But the next four months or so will undoubtedly be an exercise in political gamesmanship and monotony. Not a bad time to pick up a new hobby if you ask me, or maybe read a good book.
In short, my advice for University students on how to deal with politics is don’t. You’ll have to come back around September, of course. But everyone’s so busy patting themselves on the back right now; surely they won’t notice if you slip out the back door for a while.
I’m not even close to losing faith in our country’s politics. But it’s sure boring the hell out of me right now.
How’s that for apathetic?
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