Obama this, McCain that. Palin did this, Biden does that. Red against blue. CNN challenging Fox News. The New York Times clashing with the Wall Street Journal.
For the better part of the past two years, this country has been entirely divided by a presidential election that will probably change the face of America one way or the other for a long period of time. Every outlet of news and entertainment has constantly engulfed itself in this election process and all of the drama associated with it for months. Every citizen has focused his or her mind on the candidates and their running mates, trying to decipher what’s right while they dodge the mud-spouting from all sides of the debate for as long as they can remember.
We can’t get away from it. It’s splashed in headlines across the front page of every newspaper. Open any magazine, even a fashion magazine such as GQ, and there will undoubtedly be some coverage of the election in it. Turn on a television channel like MTV and find election coverage sandwiched between marathon episodes of “Parental Control.” And then on the commercial break, see either candidate’s advertisement that likely trashes the opposition more than it promotes himself.
The election is everywhere and everything in America right now.
It’s getting old. This whole thing has gone on for so long that it’s old — plain and simple.
The candidates stand for the same thing they always have. Sen. John McCain is a conservative who supports the war in the Middle East and tax cuts. Sen. Barack Obama is a liberal who denounces the war and raises taxes. Then they go on to trash each other and say the same things they’ve said for months: McCain is a warmonger, and Obama is a fraud. (Excuse me while I duck some more mud).
Even though the vice presidential candidates have only been in the spotlight for a short period of time, what else can the public possibly hear about them that we haven’t heard before? Gov. Sarah Palin is inexperienced and hot; Sen. Joseph Biden is gaffe-prone and old. Palin had “Troopergate,” while Biden hasn’t really done much of anything himself. Same old, same old.
At this point, it’s hard to believe any further persuasion is going to take place. Because both sides have fought the battle for so long, citizens have had a whole two years to decide which side they’re on. Most have stood firmly rooted on that side for quite some time, save a few ultra-feminist voters. All that is left for the everyman to do is watch or read what the media says, nod their head in agreement or shout in disdain, and go on with their lives. It has come to that.
So quite frankly, if nobody has anything new or particularly interesting to say, everybody needs to keep their mouths shut. The arguments have been made by the scholars and the politicians on both sides. Those people are the ones with Ivy League degrees, the ones actually doing the research, the ones in the heat of the battle and the ones smarter than us. The candidates have touched the bases on all of the major current debates such as the war, the economy, gun control, abortion, the death penalty and so on. They’ve regurgitated the talking points over and over again.
MTV, GQ and college students for that matter need to stick to what they know and not what they think they can provide some viable information on. It’s all been said before. Everybody has their opinions on the issues, but none of us really has a clue.
The United States could have a serious facelift one way or the other, and the citizens may not recognize their own country when it’s finished. The changes this election could bring are such large scale restructuring projects that it’s no wonder the election is so extensively covered by the media.
Regardless, no one has said anything new for a long time. The politicians stand for the same thing they always have. The media give the public the same information they’ve been told for ages, and the media still refer to every potential scandal as a “gate.” It’s all been worn out like a great pair of wing tip shoes.
But as GQ would say, at least a great pair of wing tips never gets old.
— Oliver Casey is a junior in enterprise management. He can be reached at [email protected].
