Our Political Season
Gregory K. Moffatt, Ph.D.
For more than a year we've been wondering who will be our next president. The answer is right around the corner, but for many Americans, political conversations couldn't be more boring. I understand why people don't like politics. It can be complicated, it is hard to know whom to believe, and the whole process can be down right nasty.
It is hard not to be cynical when year after year we see corruption, incompetence, outrageous pork spending, and gridlock - problems indicative of both major parties. It is also easy to mistakenly suppose that what happens in Washington has little effect on our daily lives.
It amuses me that the Democratic congress has touted Bush's low favorability ratings (about 30% at the time I'm writing this article) as proof of his incompetence, yet they ignore the fact that congress itself has the lowest favorability rating in history (hovering around 16%). While that might seem like a partisan statement, I present it only to make another point. We sent those politicians up there and we keep re-electing them. If they are so bad why have many of them been there for two, three, four, or more terms? Our complaining is a lot like congress complaining about Bush. We have little room to talk.
My grandfather used to say you shouldn't talk about politics or religion because people would just get angry. (He always followed that statement with a long conversation about politics and religion.) His observation was correct and, in fact, that is part of our problem. People talk about politics from an emotional position, not a logical one. We then communicate that emotional "truth" to our children and the problem is perpetuated when our children also become voters who will feel instead of think.
I have fun pressing my students when they mention a political candidate. No matter whom they name as their candidate, I ask them why. "Name one policy that you think will really make a difference," I ask them. If they even try to answer that question, which most of them don't, I usually get a bumper sticker statement like, "He/she will improve the economy" or "He/she will improve education." But "how" is the question. They don't know and they don't care because they "believe" something. The facts don't matter.
That doesn't mean, of course, that their candidate won't at least try to do those things. Rather it reflects the fact we vote with our affect rather than reason.
Those who can't stand Bush are likely to vote for Obama. Why? Because they don't like Bush, Republicans, or anyone associated with them. On that note, Obama will do everything he can to link McCain with the Bush administration. Instead of discussing specific policy positions, he will largely rely on the affective power of, "I'm not Bush."
Likewise, those who can't stand Obama will vote for McCain because they don't like Democrats. McCain will do everything he can to scare voters (affect) into believing the world will end if Obama is elected, relying on the affective position, "I'm not Obama." The truth or fiction of either camp's actual policy positions is secondary.
My point is that if we really want to see changes in the corruption and pork spending in Washington that is bankrupting our country, we have to start investing in our political processes. Learn all you can by examining the candidates' political records for yourself rather than listening to biased reports about their records from their opponents or the media. Their history is the best predictor of what they will do if elected, regardless of what they say in campaign speeches.
Go to the candidates' respective web sites. Read their specific positions on the economy, the role of government, potential Supreme Court appointments, and the role of the military, and do some fact checking on what they say. If you don't want to do that much work, there are numerous nonpartisan web sites that list the candidates' positions on these and other issues side-by-side.
Discuss these issues with your children. Solicit their thoughts
and challenge their ideas to make them think about their own positions.
Most importantly - vote. Maybe if we all took the process more
seriously from a cognitive perspective, instead of an affective
perspective, we might actually have a collection of political
leaders that we can be proud of.