In the fall of 2008, I was a Junior at the University of Colorado. Most of you who are familiar with the school understand that it has a wide reputation for being a more liberal institution (understatement). The year was filled with excitement and eagerness on campus to support a candidate that we all felt would bring legitimate Hope to Washington D.C., and someone who voiced our opinions clearly every time he spoke; this of course was Barack Obama. I was in the front row to see the now First Lady, Michele Obama, speak to thousands of eager CU students and Boulder residents. The rally shot a jolt of excitement into my already eager support of President Obama. I'll be the first to admit that I bought into the hype surrounding a fresh new leader for this country, especially someone who was such a powerful speaker and presence in the political arena. However, in the back of my mind I always tried to stay grounded in the idea that one person didn't get this country in the position it is in now, and one person will not likely be able to pull us out of this rut single handedly.
The months approaching the election were full of cut-throat political advertisements, Presidential debates, and heated conversations between opposing family and friends. Much of this conversation took place on misguided, and unclear social media platforms including Facebook and Twitter. I found my-self in a constant state of frustration with my right wing friends, sharing comments back and forth cutting into each other’s political views and leading the "conversation" into personal insults and uneducated statements (I was the most guilty of this). The most frustrating aspect of looking at my news feed was seeing absurd claims of Obama being the Anti-Christ, a Socialist, a Terrorist etc... For whatever reason, I bought into these arguments and barged in full force to the comment section of the post guns-a-blazing, spouting back equally absurd statements like: “The GOP is a group of radical, heartless, money hungry, religious extremists whose only interest is to screw the poor and watch out for their own self interest.” Well, the last part I think is true about all political parties. Endless debates would fill comment box after comment box, with no regard or respect for the people taking part in the conversation. The debates spiraled quickly out of control and there was no stopping the anger, venting, and even hatred spewing from the mouths of political supporters on both sides.
Needless to say, seeing the Presidential victory role in on election night was similar to the feeling I had as an eleven-year-old when the Broncos beat the Packers in the Super Bowl. All I had to do is sit back and watch the tears of my enemies fall onto my news feed in the form of comments such as, ”I'm moving to Canada!" and "This country is screwed!"...Oh sweet redemption! I was walking on air, I didn't even need to say anything...It was my own version of a mic drop, and walk off the stage. But at what expense did this feeling come?
I had insulted friends, ruined relationships, crossed the line and no longer had a drummer (that's a whole different story). The fact is that I spent hours of my life constructing arguments and attacks that made no difference what-so-ever! There is not a single person that was able to sway my vote, and I was definitely not able to even nudge my counter-parts in my direction either. The amount of time I spent arguing could have been used to do so much more. Besides the time wasted, I found myself more cynical and defensive than I ever have been in my life. Politics has shown its true worth in my life, and let me tell you, it is not holding its weight.
So this next election season you will probably see an Obama '12 bumper sticker on my car and maybe a post here and there about issues that I support. But you will NOT see me pulling the gloves off and standing toe to toe with my opposition on Facebook or any other arena. The extremes of all sides of political opinion have left an extremely sour taste in my mouth. So much so, that I really do lose respect for the people posting hateful, uneducated messages for the sake of stirring the pot and stroking their own ego. It is highly unlikely that the next President of the United States will either save or doom this country, and this year I am not willing to waste my time trying to prove that statement false.
