This is Getting Silly
Has anyone else noticed that the muddy waters of the Presidential campaign trail look more and more like bad reality television? Sometimes I wonder where the respect for the highest office in the nation has gone. It seems that attracting the masses requires Kardashian like moves and I find that to be more than a little unsettling. While it is clear that attracting the millennial vote is necessary and that the successful candidate must also reach the “every man” and inspire him to vote for possibly the first time in decades, if not the first time in his/her life, I fear that we may have crossed a line in this election season. Has social media and reality television finally done what even Watergate and Monica Lewinsky fell short of doing?
If we have no respect for the Office of President of the United States of America how can we expect other countries to do what we do not do ourselves? It is important that millennials be informed and vote. They are our future. But, I would hope and expect that meeting them on their level, where they live, doesn’t mean that those seeking to be the highest elected official in this Country, the head of our military and the leader of the greatest nation in the world, need to entertain in Friday night style to engage the youngest voting generation. After all, they are not just our future, they are their future and they should take it more seriously than to view it as just another social statement.
And for those that were never inclined to vote before the campaign antics took center stage, well forgive me for saying so but maybe we were better off before they took such an ardent interest. It appears that they are not so much interested in the direction of the country as they are sticking one to the establishment. Which is fine, as long as you are clear on exactly what the establishment represents. Voting is a privilege and a right. Voting is also a responsibility and should never be taken lightly. Most people want their voice to the heard and that is understandable. I, also, want my voice to be heard. It is the responsibility of the candidates, and ultimately the President of the United States, to listen to those voices. And, it is the responsibility of the people, the voters, to have something worthwhile to say.
It is time that we move beyond reality television politics. I don’t want to see my President on late night TV. I would like to think that he or she has better things to do and more productive ways to occupy their time. Communication is great and social media is a wonderful tool to reach the masses but the message shouldn’t read like it was written by a middle school cheerleader and the threshold of credibility does not end where twitter or instagram begins. Sometimes a little decorum goes a long way.
In this day and age of political correctness, where even those keeping score have a hard time remembering all of the rules, it would seem that just a little political correctness could find its way into the political arena. We need to tap the breaks on the path that we appear to be traveling in this Presidential season before we find ourselves on the path to no return where Watergate and cigar scandals are considered the good old days and Kanye West really could be elected President.
