Say what?

As we limp through election season, alternately moaning and groaning and kicking and screaming, one thing seems clear above all else-no one is particularly happy about the way things are going.  The problems facing the country seem as intractable as they are overwhelming, and there is general agreement that we are at a critical point as a nation.  However, polls I conducted around the neighborhood among friends and acquaintances show that no matter whom they end up casting their ballots for, it is a choice made grudgingly at best.  What they feel most passionate about is that the current field of candidates simply does not measure up.

As a friend was moved to state: “The front-runners look more like shipwreck victims who have washed up on the beach than sure-handed captains of the ship of state.” As a result, a make-the-best-of-it mood has gripped voters. Not exactly what you would call a ringing endorsement of the options offered up by our vaunted two-party system.

Election politics has always been something of a wild, unpredictable free-for-all, but the level and character of the discourse is now flirting with the absurd.  As economic problems have grown, so has voter alienation.  As a result, politics has become a fractious battle of special interests competing for votes.  One result of this competition has been the unfortunate albeit necessary focus on gimmicks to divert the public’s attention.   

But take heart: Things are not usually as bad as they seem.  Okay, maybe they are.  What is needed here is a moment to step back, take a deep breath, and try to gain a broader perspective.  And I can’t think of a better way to do this-our elected leader’s head-in-the-sand-and-ignore-them policy notwithstanding-than to look around.  Any American feeling sick and tired of the same old uninspired blather from the candidates, or the obsessive focus on possible scandal, might want to consider the campaign tactics of the Italian Moana Pozzi and the Party of Love.  At meetings, the plunge of Pozzi’s neckline was almost suicidal, and the split of her skirt reached nearly to her armpits.  But there was also Pozzi unclothed: To raise money for her campaign, she charged $10 to watch her strip at the party headquarters in Rome.  And we Americans think Jerry Brown is unconventional.

Unfortunately, however entertaining the fun and games of Italian politics may sound in comparison to our own seemingly moribund system, these distractions mean that the critical issues get completely lost all of which is to say that while our own political system is far from perfect, it still looks pretty good when viewed from the right angle.

And finally, out of the mouth of babes, with their inbuilt sense of right and wrong Urban Hipsters at the library replied when ask about all this- “Say what? Don’t you grown-ups vote these dudes into office? If they won’t do their job can’t you just fire them?”  Not a bad idea and perhaps we should lower the voting age too.