So here we sit, a few weeks before the election that has bewildered us for the last two years, a few weeks before the choice before us becomes real. And what do we know?
We know that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is a Big Bird-hating, Olympic horse-owning, 47 percent contempt-driven fundraising man who lives high on the hog. And we know that President Barack Obama is secretly not an American, practices the Muslim faith, wants to turn America into a socialist nation and is pushing to take away people’s gun rights.
I’m glad we have that out of the way. Now, let’s shift back to reality.
Whatever your political persuasion, the reality of life is that in just a few weeks, one of these two men will be elected as president of the United States. And whoever is elected will have to somehow figure out a way to govern us in a very politically charged, partisan government. So sticking to one’s ideologies once this election is over will prove to be detrimental to American interests.
Now look, I am a full-on Obama supporter, but it’s also no secret to those who know me that I am the last person to condemn anyone in my life for being a Romney supporter. My secret as to why is simple: In the long run, either man is capable of running this country. Yes, I said it.
Moreover, for either man to succeed in running this country, they will have to cast away their partisan interests and work to govern from the middle for us to rebound in the way we all want. And for the country to succeed, whatever party is in power in Congress is going to have give up their personal agendas in order for this to work. Neither side can be radicalized if we are to move forward.
Personally, I’d love to see Obama win a second term and raise taxes to put more government programs to work for us. Just as many of my Romney supporting friends would love to see him outlaw Roe v. Wade and amend the Constitution to define marriage as one man and one woman. But none of those policies are what this country, as a whole, needs right now.
So when the dust settles Nov. 7 and we have a clear winner, he must be willing to engage the other side and work together. That’s how we have gotten through many historical gridlocks in the past.
Just look to the framing of our Constitution as an example. The Senate and House of Representatives were two of this country’s greatest compromises. Smaller states wanted equal representation with the larger states, and larger states wanted representation based upon population. And so the two chambers of Congress were formed.
There’s also precedent in modern history too. Former President Bill Clinton, after a tumultuous two years attempting to push too many left-wing ideas, lost control of Congress. And had he not shifted gears moving into the 1996 election to become more moderate, he would have lost. But after his reelection he stayed moderate, working with the Republican Congress, and it was the first time in modern American history we not only balanced the budget but also kept a surplus.
We as citizens all have a responsibility to accept our politicians need to compromise in order to get work done. And moving into 2013, if we don’t live up to that responsibility America will head down a dangerous road it hasn’t traveled before – where political ideologies keep Washington in total gridlock and the American people are left thinking, “What went wrong?”
