Is America Bi-Polar?

It seems that as of late we as a nation are no longer questioning the actions or motives of our politicians. We don’t truly fact check speeches, look at voting records, or even look at the major stances of our elected officials. That is to say we don’t research and investigate the people who have the same letter next to their name as the party that we belong to. Across the aisle, however, we are quick to attack with half-truths and sometimes spotty evidence to condemn the other letter.

The two-party system is as American as apple pie and, quite frankly, is quite rotten. Most Americans are not active when it comes to politics and when it comes to voting all they look for is either the letter D or R. Politics in the United States has essentially become a zero-sum game with one philosophy winning out every few years over the other. The problem is that when people recognize what these politicians really represent they quickly vote for the other letter without knowing where that politician truly stands. However, a few years later, when these new policies fail people vote for the other letter in hopes of returning to normalcy. Just look at the swift swing for Democrats in Congress in 2006 and the Executive branch in 2008. People voted simply on the fact that whoever was the D was not the R which had become synonymous with then President Bush. Yet, in truth no one really looked at what the Ds genuinely represented. Now there is a major ground swell forming for the Rs once again in the upcoming 2010 elections. It has become obvious that in American politics there is no common ground.

Is there truly no common ground? As of right now, no. However, if one looks at recent polls there is a glimmer of hope. A Rasmussen poll on partisan trends in early September showed that 37.5% of people considered themselves to be Democrats while on 32.1% considered themselves to be Republicans. Why is this significant? Well, that means currently 30.4% of people considered themselves to be Independents. This group constitutes almost a third of Americans and is nearly as large as the other two parties. Yet, because there is no true third choice or party (or there is no appearance of) this group more often than not will lean towards either the D or R. There is a void big enough at his point for the possible emergence of a new party.

If you don’t believe me that people will stick to their letters then try this experiment. Talk with a friend, co-worker, or college student about politics. Ask them which party they identify with and then play this trick. Ask them what they think about their candidate’s stance on a subject, but, state the opposite of their actual position. I guarantee that 95% of the time the person will say that they agree with their candidate’s supposed position. John Ziegler has an amazing example of this in his movie Media Malpractice. So what you ask? Well, this is quite dangerous. If we start laying down boundaries over letters instead of really looking into what candidate x or y stand for then we open ourselves up for something we did not want. We will be ruled by people who don’t represent our beliefs, ethics, or morals. We will lose control over our country, rights, and freedoms.

So, honestly, is American truly bi-polar? No! WE are just led to believe that we are.