No need for hatred to creep into campaign

Is it November yet?

Usually, I’m not one to want to hurry along the end of warm weather. But the way I’ve been feeling lately, Nov. 4 can’t get here soon enough.

Nov. 4 is, of course, the date of the presidential election. That’s the day we’ll finally know who our next president and vice president will be. And barring another 2000, the petty bickering that has become synonymous with American presidential elections will finally be over.

I’ll admit that until recently, I was getting a fair amount of enjoyment out of the election. There are interesting, dynamic candidates on both sides, and it has been a competitive race, one which anyone could win. From a pure spectator standpoint, it’s been a fun race to watch unfold.

I’ll go on record in saying that I think both John McCain and Barack Obama are honorable, intelligent men. Both might make fine presidents. And I’ll go further in saying that I personally like both Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, the two running mates. If I had to cast a ballot today, I think I know who I’d vote for, but I’ve leaned in both directions at one time or another over the past several months, and it’s possible that I’ll swing back the other direction before it’s all said and done.

But the bottom line to me is that we’ve got two decent options. I agree with columnist and commentator Andy Rooney, who said, "I don't think our country will go to hell whichever one of them wins the election."

And that’s why it is completely baffling and frustrating to me to hear otherwise intelligent and reasonable people speak with such vile hatred when describing the candidate they are opposed to. There’s no doubt there are an abundance of perfectly good reasons to favor one candidate over another, ranging from policy positions to political experience. And that’s why there’s no reason resort to hatred for other side, especially when such sentiment is almost always based on ignorance and bigotry of one form or another.

One of the most common slams is that if “so-and-so” is elected, it will be “scary” … that horrors such as “socialism” or “fascism” will be the inevitable result of some particular candidate’s victory in November. I just don’t buy it. A presidential administration is about more than one person. There are dozens of advisers who surround the president, and by and large, determine the success of failure of the administration. Besides that, there’s the whole checks and balances thing with the Congress and Supreme Court. So while I concede that some presidents unavoidably turn out to be better than others, the notion that the end of days are upon us if the “wrong” ticket wins in November is simply ludicrous.

Complaints about the negativity that surrounds our elections are nothing new. Usually, it's the candidates or the media that get the blame for the mud-slinging. But in truth, much of the blame lies right with the voters. Every person who has uttered a single hateful word toward Obama or Palin, or McCain or Biden, shares in the blame for turning this campaign toward the ugly.

It’s all pretty simple, really. Vote for the ticket you think will do a better job. There’s no reason to hate the other side. If we want our elections to be about something other than ignorance and the various forms of bigotry that come with it, it’s up to the voters to make sure that happens.