E-Day Circus

Election day is finally here.

I'm very cautious in making comments about elections, or in picking sides, because I am not enumerated, and I think enumeration should be a prerequisite for a certain level of political passion and conviction. Admittedly, despite being from a family which has always been strongly in support of a particular party, I find myself stuck in the centre of an uncertain middle ground. I won't go into the reasons for this indecision, but some of them will become clear below...

Ah hell... the main reason is this- neither party provides me with any real sense of hope. On one hand, there's a party that I like as a whole but don't like the leader much. On the other hand, there's a party whose leader I have some faith in but whose supporting characters command no respect from me... But I digress.

There's a lot which I don't understand. One of the main things I fail to understand is why I'd leave my home, dawned in orange or green, drive half way across the country to stand in a massive rowdy crowd just to hear politicians dish out the ghetto poetry that somebody we'll never meet wrote for them. I suppose if I felt like our leaders had a more positive impact I'd understand. But given the state that our country has been in since forever, I don't understand why so many people have such a strong allegiance one way or the other. To be fair, perhaps opposition supporters should feel that way, if they're completely dissatisfied and fed up with the way the country is currently being run. But I don't think the ruling party has done enough to earn that level of patriotism.

The actions of others help me to understand some things. A member of my department, for instance, who is so pro-opposition you'd think she's Bruce's Lewinsky (pre-impeachment hearing), insists that her vote's going to the party which will "Provide opportunities for me and my son so that I can send him to school free." OK... I'm not so convinced, but I suppose kudos go to the party for brainwashing it's supporters so well; whether or not they'll be able to carry through on their promises is still to be seen.

All these things leave me stuck in my middle ground. What doesn't help is the calibre of the political advertisements that we've been subjected to. Another coworker made the point to me some time ago that politicians need poverty and lack of education to prevail in order to easier woo voters. I mean, where else can a video of splicing words be considered a legitimate political campaign? Our political ads are shallow, petty, and many times baseless. But people love them! My mother insists that they're done for entertainment purposes. But I'm not sure if it ends there for some people. I don't know how many undecideds watch these deceptive videos and pick sides based on the misinformation they provide. My biggest disappointment this year has been the fact that the ruling party, after complaining about the lies being depicted in the opposition's ads, went ahead and did the very same thing. Desperation, perhaps?

Politics in this country is just one big circus to me. And until someone convinces me that the show's over, I refuse to become one of their clowns. I want my vote to mean something to me.