US Election 2012

Happy end of campaigning day!

I watched the election results on BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) which was a really interesting experience. It was so neat to see both sides presented in a non-biased way and to hear what other countries think when they look at the USA. They had some American political analysts in the room to talk about the key states for each party and where they thought it would go. They had reporters in all of the swing states talking to the locals to try to get an idea of how many were voting Romney or Obama.

The most interesting part of watching this was hearing how the perceive the politics in the US. They kept saying how 'polarized' we are and how divided. How it was going to be such a close race because you just didn't know who was going to pull through and get the voters out in the key swing states. They even categorized the voters based on party politics. Said that Obama was going to pull the vote from the African Americans, Hispanics, and young people and Romney was going to pull the white, predominately male vote. So it just depended on who would go out and vote as to who would win this election. I think it is so sad that not only are our politics so divided but that we are now segmenting the beliefs of each party into race. I know the issues of the Civil Rights movement are still at work in some peoples minds but over all I feel that we have overcome that ignorant mentality and have moved on toward acceptance of ALL people. So the fact that our politics are seen as holding sway in particular races just makes me re-think where we stand as a country. We are divided into the rich and the poor. The majority and the minority. Male and Female. Young and Old. Nothing in between. I think it's so sad. There should be more to "The greatest nation on Earth" than a huge divide among its politics and citizens. We definitely shouldn't let race get thrown into the divide of politics, even if there is a pattern among those voters. It will just add more borders and barriers for people to cross when they disagree about something. We do not need any more of these barriers, we need to break barriers and see that everyone is human and has multiple things in common. If the people who are leading our country would realize this then we would probably actually move 'forward' as a country instead of remain stagnant.

All I have to say is we need a stronger 3rd party. I know there are supporters out there, we just haven't mobilized. The strong parties and media make us feel like our vote doesn't count unless its Democratic or Republican and that is certainly not the case. The only reason they are big and strong is because they get funding. This was the most expensive campaign in history, and Gary Johnson couldn't get enough money to make his views known like Obama and Romney could. So lets throw all of that aside and just talk to one another about the issues and educate on what is really going on in Congress. Look at what each party stands for so that we can have an educated vote. Perhaps people will see that we need someone who is in the middle of this battlefield is what is best for this country.  If we were all to rally together and show there is huge section of the population that prefers a Libertarian view then they will have to listen. Particularly college students! If we start now showing that we are the future voters and we don't like all this party politics then we will see real change in future elections.I hope in 4 years people will be more educated on philosophies like those of Ron Paul and Gary Johnson. If people open their ears they might find they like what they hear. America was founded on reform...why have we become complacent and forgotten the citizens are the ones that change things?

Well this wasn't supposed to be a political rant, but seems I got ahead of myself a bit. Overall I just wanted to make the point that Europe as a whole sees America as a highly polarized country. Also, a majority of people in a variety of European countries prefer Obama. I know, why should they care? Well because the president controls foreign policy. So if other countries respect us more as a country for having Obama as President then that is a plus. And for those of you upset about Obama winning just remember the House remains Republican to oppose his propositions. Soooo here is to another 4 years of turmoil and no compromise. And on a final side note, if the Republicans would've voted for Ron Paul to be the presidential candidate, then maybe we would have a Republican president. Can't wait to see what 2016 has in store! Also, I suggest to get your news from BBC every now and then, an outside perspective is good.
Again, I apologize for the rant, thought about deleting it, but I'm going to leave and hope it inspires some people. =) 
Be proud to be an American and hope that bi-partisanship will come out during the next 4 years.

United we stand, Divided we fall,
Alyssa