Spring Break
Embrace change, whatever the outcome
So your candidate loses…then what?
Lara Oliver
Issue date: 11/4/08 Section: Opinion
I've got some bad news. It's about your candidate.
Let me put this gently: there's a very good chance that whoever you're voting for this year might not win.
I know, it's scary. That other guy? He totally opposes everything you stand for. He might even put those people in charge. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones who give you mean looks whenever you're driving around and they see your bumper stickers. Yeah, those people.
Does it really matter who I'm talking about? Depending on which dude you're voting for in the coming weeks, you probably took that paragraph with a grain of salt.
Like most people, I'm getting pretty sick and tired of all the negativity being thrown around in this campaign. On one side, we hear jokes making fun of how old McCain is and how it Depends® whether or not he'll be a good leader. On the other, jokes about how Obama makes a better cocktail companion than a leader are being slung around.
Either way, it's just a lot of trash talking or an attempt to hide everyone's fears of "the other."
Back in 2000, I was too young to vote in the election, but I supported Al Gore. When he lost, he fought to prove the Electoral College swayed the vote away from what the people and the government both wanted. Supporters of Bush coined the phrase "Sore/Loserman 2000," suggesting that there was no truth to the accusations and portraying Gore and Lieberman as a muttering bunch of sour grapes. Ironically, Lieberman later revealed himself as a true Republican.
In the 2004 election, worries over being seen as another Al Gore caused Kerry and Edwards to immediately concede the election to Bush instead of fighting for recounts in swing states.
But this year, it seems we're not even waiting for polling to be over to begin the polarization that usually occurs after Election Day.
From slashed tires at Obama rallies and a made-up charge of assault from a McCain supporter in Pennsylvania, to accusations of racism and thievery against McCain supporters-- it seems impossible for either side to admit that the other side might, just might, support their candidate for reasons other than race.
Let me put this gently: there's a very good chance that whoever you're voting for this year might not win.
I know, it's scary. That other guy? He totally opposes everything you stand for. He might even put those people in charge. You know the ones I'm talking about. The ones who give you mean looks whenever you're driving around and they see your bumper stickers. Yeah, those people.
Does it really matter who I'm talking about? Depending on which dude you're voting for in the coming weeks, you probably took that paragraph with a grain of salt.
Like most people, I'm getting pretty sick and tired of all the negativity being thrown around in this campaign. On one side, we hear jokes making fun of how old McCain is and how it Depends® whether or not he'll be a good leader. On the other, jokes about how Obama makes a better cocktail companion than a leader are being slung around.
Either way, it's just a lot of trash talking or an attempt to hide everyone's fears of "the other."
Back in 2000, I was too young to vote in the election, but I supported Al Gore. When he lost, he fought to prove the Electoral College swayed the vote away from what the people and the government both wanted. Supporters of Bush coined the phrase "Sore/Loserman 2000," suggesting that there was no truth to the accusations and portraying Gore and Lieberman as a muttering bunch of sour grapes. Ironically, Lieberman later revealed himself as a true Republican.
In the 2004 election, worries over being seen as another Al Gore caused Kerry and Edwards to immediately concede the election to Bush instead of fighting for recounts in swing states.
But this year, it seems we're not even waiting for polling to be over to begin the polarization that usually occurs after Election Day.
From slashed tires at Obama rallies and a made-up charge of assault from a McCain supporter in Pennsylvania, to accusations of racism and thievery against McCain supporters-- it seems impossible for either side to admit that the other side might, just might, support their candidate for reasons other than race.
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