politics, part two

I'll be very happy when this election is over. More and more as we approach the election, I see the ugliness that is brought out at a personal level, not to mention the venomous ads from various political groups, and often the animosity I see pops up where it wouldn't otherwise.

It seems like people are changed somehow when they get behind their man. When talking about key issues at other times, I feel like I can address the issue by itself, but during election time, people group the issues together at either the Republican or Democrat end of things, and it's very hard to have productive conversations. It's frustrating, and I'll be happy once we've gotten past this season.

politics, part one

Of course I'm writing about politics, it's the day before the election.

Prior to this election, I have not voted for any candidate. Sometimes I didn't vote at all, other times I turned in a blank ballot. I did this because I thought I could never get completely behind a candidate. I still can't. I did this as a protest to the system, but now I don't think it was any sort of an effective protest. I used to think that people, upon finding out who I had voted for, would think I agreed with that candidate on every issue. I still think people will often initially come to that conclusion, but will eventually remember that no one agrees completely with any candidate.

The thing is, I've always had a hard time being interested in politics on a national level. There's so much bullsh!t to wade through, and I don't have the interest to make enough time to arrive at a proper conclusion. My interest is much more in the personal relationships I have. Not just sticking with the relationships I've already got, but developing new ones. I think of it, in part, as politics at a personal level. I have no problem being interested in that sort of politics.

So why did I vote this election? It's not really because either of the candidates (I hate that the system makes it valid to use "either" like this), although it is a bit because of the current president. It's mostly because of my own personal growth. I think that my previous ideals, while still here, were carried out in an immature way. Our government is one place, I think, where we need to try to change from within. I think I'm much more equipped to be active in politics on a personal level, but those who have the interest and ability should try to change things at the broader levels.