Pawns of a vision-less political system

America, wake up!

On November 6, 2012, many of us will be going to the ballot box to either send a man back to the White House or elect a new president of the United States. Regardless of what you decide,  this political season has already been a bust and it is my humble opinion that neither person or the party that they represent has the answers.

People, we are in a heap of trouble and there is no one to blame but ourselves. We have allowed the the two-party system to shape our thoughts and views, with the result being, we are as clueless and vision-less as those that we elect into office to represent us. Both of the candidates who will be on the ballot seeking our assistance to become president of these United States are lightweights. In the year 2012 and after so much promise from the candidate in 2008, Barack Obama may actually win the election by default due to a lackluster campaign from his challenger.

Even worse, both major political parties have trumpeted up the rhetoric that they have already turned off the electorate. Voter turnout come November may reach record lows. The base for the Democratic Party has a rallying cry of what the other party will do to you; even going are far as to buy the manure that flowed out of the mouth of the VP with regard to believing that returning to chains is a possibility. Then you have a Republican Party that cannot seem to get a campaign started due to continuously being thrown off focused with talk about a member’s view about rape, members jumping into some sacred waters and how many years’ worth of tax returns should be released.

If there was ever a need for a third political party to rise up in this country, 2012 would be the year. With a little over two months to go before we go to the polls, I do not get the sense that either candidate feels good about his chances. The issues that should give us reason to get to the polls are not the talk of the town. The average voter will most likely say that they are voting for one person over the other based on rhetoric and/or the political soundbites that they have heard. Sadly, it is no different than the soundbite that was spewed by Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin. That garbage that he spewed recently did not even derive from a thought process he developed. He did nothing more that regurgitate something that had been told to him.

So why have we allowed ourselves to become pawns of such a vision-less political system here in America? Are we no more representative of the people that we choose to represent us?

Maybe it is the electorate that lack the vision and are just fine with settling, because it is obvious that what many of us will be doing come November 6, 2012. President Obama is no more worthy of another term than Governor Romney is of a first term. However, one of the two will prevail and ascend the role to lead this country for the next four years. And if the commercials and political lambasting ares any indication, we cannot expect anything different in the future than what we are getting at present. It is rather pathetic that many have resolved themselves with the thought process of having to choose between what they consider to be the lessor of two evils.

Why does it always have to come to that when selecting people to fill a role so important?

It was stated so eloquently some years back and it makes sense today: “It’s the economy, stupid.” So whichever candidate that can stay focused and deliver a message to resonate with the American electorate, it is his race to lose. I do not know what the incumbent can say to convince people that he can turn things around; and that what he inherited conversation has no merit. As far as the challenger, if he cannot say to the American people and/or lay out a plan to improve the economy, he does not deserve your vote. So where exactly is that third party candidate that has this great opportunity to seize the moment?

People, politics and politicians are not about you, me or anyone else. When you have the likes of Nancy Pelosi focusing more on her political party regaining the house and her taking back over the speaker’s role; that should tell you all you need to know about the vision-less political system that we endure here in America. The only way that we can relinquish the title of being some pawn to these clueless people is to begin to hold the politicians accountable. That however is a daunting task since no matter how low the approval numbers are, the same cast of characters are constantly returned back to the cushy, do-nothing roles that many have occupied for far too long.

So the real change is not about some message out of the mouth of any candidate. If we really want change, it is going to have to start with us; the clueless and vision-less electorate. Let’s stop being the pawns!