There’s always something to howl about.

A Disturbing New Dynamic

Although this post discusses the election in general, it is not meant to instigate a general discussion of the election.  It is… a non-political post on politics.

In talking to various people about the upcoming presidential election and their preferences, I was stuck by an odd response I kept hearing – in various forms – over and over again.  I decided to do an extensive, double blind study – exhausting all resources in order to generate a valid conclusion.  Following this study, I now believe we are witnessing a new election dynamic (or at the very least a dynamic not previously seen in our life time).

Editor’s Note: By “extensive” I mean I asked anyone who walked into, out of or near my office doorway.  I did not actually go the whole distance and get up off my seat.  Also, by “double blind” I mean to say neither I nor the person I interviewed had a clue what we were talking about.  I imagine my idea of “exhaustive” needs no further explanation…

In all seriousness, when I meet someone voting for either candidate I ask them a straightforward question: “Why are you voting for that candidate?”  Even though I spoke with a full spectrum of ideologies, I heard a similarity in all their responses.  If the person was an Obama supporter they would provide answers such as “four more years of Bush… disastrous deregulation by the current administration… conservative duplicity with Wall Street” and so on.  If the person was a McCain supporter they would provide answers such as “tax and spend Democrats… redistribution of wealth… lack of liberal strength in the face of terrorism” and so on.  I rarely got an affirmative answer with regard to their candidate of choice.  In other words: they were not voting for someone so much as voting against someone else.

That people cast their vote for someone they are not particularly excited about is not new.  Nor is casting a vote solely in opposition to the other candidate.  What is groundbreaking (and, so far as I know, not being reported) is that this year, for the first time ever, the percentage of people voting against the other party appears to be greater than the percentage voting for their party.  A strange little dynamic: a populace divided not by what they believe in but rather by what they do not believe in.

  • Does this reflect a jadedness now become pervasive?
  • Is it indicative of a society operating mostly on fear and anger?
  • When one votes for a candidate and that candidate loses, it is not so difficult to envision uniting behind the new leader for the greater good of the nation.  But when one votes against a candidate who subsequently goes on to win, well… that is a very different perspective indeed.  It leaves little room for reconciliation.

I am not sure what the ramifications are when a nation crosses this tipping point in elections; when a majority of voters cast votes to reflect their enmity rather than their alliance.  I don’t know what affect it will have, but somehow I doubt it will be good.