Possible Political Pause

            There was speculation over the last few weeks as to when Romney would choose his running mate. With headlines saying he was ready to announce his pick any day now, people wondered if he would announce his VP candidate earlier than usual in efforts to divert attention away from his tax returns and the Bain Capital fiasco. But with the Olympics right around the corner, an early draft pick was probably not the greatest of ideas (guess this explains why he hasn’t picked his right-hand-man just yet). A presidential candidate usually announces his running mate right before the party convention in efforts to create a great deal of buzz and excitement that hopefully lasts until Voting Day. Any major political announcement right before the Olympics could potentially just die short. According to some, the Olympic Games have the capability of bringing American politics to a hard stop. This could work in Romney’s favor, as any previous negative punches from the Democratic Party may be forgotten about, and any new smears might not make headline news – or may have to be put on hold and therefore have a chance of being outdated by the time the Olympic Games end. But one might wonder: could Presidential campaigning really go on a two-week hiatus?

            MSNBC has already made clear it will be airing non-stop Olympic coverage until 6PM pretty much every day over the next two weeks. Already it looks like we’re therefore preparing for less politics; not to mention, pre-Olympic coverage leading up to the actual Olympics basically took over much of the media in this country. With Romney overseas and the Olympics now taking center stage (post-theater-shooting in Aurora, Colorado), politics could be in for a vacation. The negative campaigning has been overwhelming and voters want – practically need – a break from all the mudslinging. It’s time to focus on something a bit more positive for the next two weeks: passion for our country. It’s too bad nationalism like this knocks on our doors during events like the Olympics, but appears almost nonexistent when it comes to politics in this country.

            The Senate and the House go on recess from August 6^th to September 10^th, so whatever isn’t hashed out next week will be put on hold for five weeks. Though the 2012 Summer Olympics are just about to be in full swing, whatever happens politically in the next week is extremely important. Not only is Romney looking to establish himself on an international level, time is ticking for Congress: We’ll only be one hundred days away from Election Day by the end of this weekend, and therefore Obama and Romney are headed towards the home stretch and truly need to kick it into high gear.

Perfection

            It almost seems pointless to make any promises in today’s world if you are a politician. The people of this country have a preconceived notion that whatever you tell them is a lie and that all politicians are corrupt. The American people stopped trusting politicians so long ago that anyone who has as much as a slight interest in political science now gets labeled as deceitful, dishonest, and devious. America has the false impression that one must be perfect in order to be president. Is there a reason why we feel the need to hold politicians to a higher standard then we hold just about everyone else in our lives, sometimes even including ourselves? I understand politicians are in the public light and therefore they naturally open themselves up to criticism on a level equal to that of celebrities. I also understand that if you chose to run for president you should probably have an extremely clean record, since anything you have done, no matter how little it was or how unimportant it may seem, will make its way back to the surface. This being the case, who would even want to run for president? You have to have lived your entire life as if you were walking on eggshells, which really means you’ve never lived. Who wants a president who isn’t in touch with themselves or reality?

            Here’s a reality check for anyone who thinks Presidential candidates need a picture-perfect past: perfection doesn’t exist; no one is perfect; no one is without faults. As Vince Lombardi once said, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” We need to push our politician’s blemishes aside and let these people do their job. Until we do this, Paul Levinson’s essay titled “Can Only Angels be President?” might hold more truth than we’d hope. We cannot place presidents and Presidential candidates on such high pedestals. If we do, we’re simply setting these politicians up for failure – we forget they too are just human beings. Imagine what could be accomplished if the American people spent half the time they spend on trying to dig up all the dirt on our politicians’ past on something more important for this country – maybe we’d all be better off.

            Mr. Obama has entered a dark time in this political race as the majority of his campaigning techniques now appear to be more about trying to hurt Romney than help the President get reelected. As a voting individual I’m sick of the negativity, which seems like a stunt straight out of grade school. It’s time to grow up Mr. President. Maybe you should spend a little more effort running this country and a little less time attaching your opponent (just a thought). When Romney asked Obama for an apology for attacking this GOP nominee without actual evidence to back up his claims, the President said no and stated he will continue his negative campaigning. Mr. Obama, I thought you sat in the Oval Office, not the third row of a second grade classroom. Let’s focus on more important topics, please. I saw a tweet recently which read, “Politics is going to be so much cooler when our generation, growing up with Facebook and twitter, start running for office.” My response went something like this: “I think it'll be a bit scary… we're all doomed in the future!” We nitpick over people’s military records, birth certificates, and tax returns; I don’t want to even think about what politics in this country is going to look like when we start fishing through status updates and Facebook photos.