Debating Decisions

Did you watch the first Presidential debate last night? I hope so. Not that I care who you vote for…that’s your choice. But, the more people that watch the debates, the more activity there will (hopefully) be on election day. And high voter turnout is never a bad thing.

I came in the bedroom last night, ready to settle into a hot shower and some reading time. My lovely wife asked, “Do you want to watch the debate with me?” But, of course! I feel a little jaded because I think debates are a lot of grandstanding and not a lot of substance, but I want to be informed, so I watched.

Before the debate started, mE said, “I don’t even know why they have the debates now…it’s not like everyone doesn’t already have their mind made up.” And, I agree. I don’t think I’m alone in wishing the campaign season could be shortened by, oh, a year or so. And I really DO think most people already have their mind made up…but, should we?

Had to do a little thinking on this. Do I have my candidate already? Yes. Should I? That’s debateable.

Really, if we’re being completely open, we should be considering every last bit of information until the moment we walk into the voting booth, right? Yet, people already had their mind made up back during the primaries. To me, this is partially the fault of this two party system in which we find ourselves in 2012. The two party system means, without much thought being put into it, folks want to come down on one side or the other. Black or white, good or bad, conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat. It seems like people want a side with which to identify…and a side they want to demonize. So, once people decide which side they want to be on, it automatically (and usually) sets up this dynamic that the otherside is wrong. About everything. And their side is right. Again, about everything.

Instead of being open to every candidate’s viewpoint up until we walk into the voting booth, we’re allowing room for each candidate to grow and evolve…and we’re leaving room for our own opinions not to be limited by this left/right system of 2012. Just my post debate ramblings…