Report: Both Hitler and Mussolini Experiencing a Cold Front

Somewhere deep beneath the earth’s surface now lives a giant frozen wasteland. It seems hell has frozen over and I have taken interest in a pair of political candidates. Both Barack Obama and John McCain have struck me as interesting and it’s making things a bit difficult. Allow me to explain.

See, about a month ago I had the genius idea of getting to know each of the new American presidential candidates a little better. I was growing apathetic toward all the sound bites and political bickering I was hearing on the news, so I went to my local library and proceeded to check out books written by each of the candidates. I fell upon Barack Obama’s The Audacity of Hope and John McCain’s Faith of My Fathers. I then proceeded to read both of them simultaneously as to gain a better perspective on each of the men who I am to choose who will potentially become the next leader of my country.

The idea seemed innocent enough. I would gain more knowledge on each of the men which would in turn better inform my decision on who to vote for in the coming November elections. Whether it was the books I had chosen or the men who wrote them, I’m unsure, but nevertheless after reading both books, I feel less able to choose now than before I had read the books.

It seems that both Barack Obama and John McCain are very interesting people. Mr. Obama has very ambitious ideas and high hopes for the future of America as was spelled out in his book and Mr. McCain has a very long family history of influence in America (both for good and bad, but more for good it seems) and wishes to continue that influence (for good I’m assuming) as President. After reading these books I couldn't help but think what good people these men really are.

That’s the problem I now have. After reading these books and learning about these men, I can’t help but see them as people. Before, people in politics, for me, always represented ideas. Ideas that I could easily agree with or disagree with without much thought or concern for the impact they would have on me and the people around me. Politicians never seemed human to me. They were more like statues in a museum representing an ancient culture. These statues represent real people that lived at one time, but when you see them in a museum you can’t help but think of the time period they represent rather than the people they represent.

However, now when I look at the election coming up in November, I have to choose between two people (two really good people in my opinion) rather than two ideas. It makes the whole decision a little more difficult. I see the winning candidate being really joyous of his victory and I can even feel some of that joy with him, but I also see the losing candidate being really heart-broken about all the hard work and dedication amounting to essentially nothing and I can feel some of that heart-brokenness.

What’s really troubling though is that I should have been thinking like this all along. When it comes to people, thinking of them as people always beats not thinking of them as people. I think this exercise really helped solidify that idea in me. I’d recommend it.