Last of Our Kind

(Our version of the electoral map. Click to enlarge.)

I am going to go out on a limb here and make a generalization…albeit a fairly harmless one. I believe that there are definitely two Americas today. And by today, I mean six days from the election. And by two Americas, I do not mean the left-wing-liberal-elite-nutjob-anti-America America versus right-wing-conservative-virtuous-moral-patriotic-to-the-core America (although I am sure there are some that will see it that way). I am talking about two Americas: One holding their breath and riddled with anxiety, the other, using all their breath to desperately state their case to win, what I hope is, a losing battle, and blame each other for why the republicans are losing.



I wrote about skepticism last week because I was not convinced this election is over, and I am still not convinced. It does seem, however, that most media outlets are convinced. All I hear and read about is how hard it will be for McCain to win this election. The only other topic dominating election news is how Sarah Palin will use this lost election to elevate her political career. By all accounts, it seems the McCain campaign is turning against their illustrious vice-presidential pick. Of course, on the surface, McCain says he “couldn’t be happier” which I think sits somewhere between “we’ve got them JUST where we want them” and “the fundamentals of our economy are strong.” With leaks from the McCain campaign ranging from “she is a diva” to “she is wackjob,” I think McCain and Palin may just tear each other apart before we even reach the election. And if they somehow manage to make it that far, you can bet (in my humble opinion), that should they lose, they will be at each other’s throats with the blame game. I would love to be a fly on the wall in the room when they have that discussion. You know which discussion I am talking about. I am going to fictionalize it for you right now:

McCain: You know…you were never qualified to be vice president anyway. You ruined our chances.
Palin: Oh yeah! Well you aren’t a real maverick gosh darn it! And…there…too…also…I was the only hope you ever had!
McCain: And being able to see Russia from your house gives you foreign policy credentials?!
Palin: Your campaign kept me from attacking that anti-American un-patriotic Obama, and, there too…kept me from using Reverend Wright against him!
McCain: Your husband is a secessionist.
Palin: You’re old!
McCain: You’re a diva and a wackjob!

Ok you get the idea. There is going to be a whole lot of finger pointing come November 5th if McCain/Palin lose to Obama/Biden.

Now…the country divided. The McCain campaign is using all their breath, turning blue in the face, screaming at us all to vote for them, and save his candidacy. I cannot help but think there are two factions of McCain supporters left: Those who still believe he is the right candidate, have not given up, and are using all their breath to spread his message; and those who have lost all hope, are abandoning the perceived sinking ship, and placing any blame they can think of on McCain for the loss. I could be wrong, in fact, I am sure I am. I am sure there are others out there that do not fit in either category, but this is just my slightly skewed (who am I kidding…completely skewed) perception of things.

The other part of the country is the Obama supporters. Holding their breath, turning blue in the face, anxiously waiting in silence to wake up to good news Wednesday morning. We are holding our breath because; despite all evidence to the contrary, we cannot believe our candidate is actually winning. We are actually scared to hope. Scared to believe in what could be. Scared of the unknown. We want to believe, and we want to take heart in what seems to be a winning candidate, but we cannot because we have seen defeat snatched from the jaws of victory in the past.

The father of modern horror fiction, H.P. Lovecraft, once wrote: “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

McCain has consistently manipulated our fear of the unknown to try and win this election. The McCain campaign has gone to great lengths to paint Obama (whether directly or indirectly) as a terrorist and anti-American. They have done all they can do (I hope) to make us fear an Obama presidency. None of these traditional fear-mongering tactics seem to be resonating. Could it be we are changing? Could it be we have seen enough of this in the last eight years? I think so.

As for holding our breath…we are fearful because we have no idea what the GOP is capable of…what lengths they will go to in order to win an election. I am hoping that this time around, we have seen all their tricks, they are no longer unknown, and are nothing to fear. We are no longer in the dark about what the GOP will do to win an election. They, and I say this with the most hopeful of skepticism; have nothing left to go bump in the dark with.

I am done holding my breath. I believe in the American people enough to see a truly transformational leader for what he is, and elect him to office. I believe and I hope.



I think now all we need is a little luck.

-LoOK