Media outlets are comparing tonight's presidential debate to the Super Bowl. To trivialize it and compare it to a sporting event sets it up to be a bad reality show before it even starts. In the end, it isn't us against them. If the wrong "team" loses, we ALL lose as a country. It is not about bragging rights for the next four to eight years.
I personally know who I am voting for. I am voting with my conscience. I am NOT voting for the lesser of two evils. I believe in what my candidate stands for and think the country will benefit from my party winning the election.
Sadly though, I know what my candidate stands for through research- not observation. The message on the both sides has been lost in the mud slinging. More often than not it is not about why they're the best for this country, but why the other candidate isn't.
This is nothing new for elections, but this year it is out of hand. It's like going on a job interview and rather than talking about your own resume you mention why the person who interviewed before you is unqualified.
To be honest, it's not just the candidates it's the supporters too (myself included). I have shared so many things about the candidate that I will not be voting for, but very little about the candidate that I will be voting for. This election has us so divided that at least once a week I read a post that starts with "Feel free to unfriend me if you disagree...". I have literally lost friendships over our opposing political views.
Why? Because who you vote for seems to not only define your politics, but who you are as person. If you support Hillary, you support a lying untrustworthy person. If you support Donald, you support an ignorant (and possibly racist) person. Pick your poison.
I'm not saying either of these things are necessarily true, but that's the narrative. Trump is the xenophobe who wants to build a wall. Clinton is the criminal who lies about emails. Nowhere in this message do we hear the actual plans they have for if they were to be elected president.
The optimistic part of me hopes that there will be a turn around in the debates. Yes, there will be interruptions and the occasional put down, but somewhere in all that noise the candidates will stop acting like two jilted lovers and start acting like actual presidential candidates. I know this is a very hopeful sentiment and that there's a good chance tonight will just be a dramatic version of what we've already been seeing.
Wouldn't it be nice though? Wouldn't it be nice if instead of saying why the other candidate is so unqualified they said why they themselves are so qualified for the role? High hopes in an election that has pandered to the lowest common denominator the entire time, but with 42 days until Election Day one can only hope, right?