As I roamed TV channels last night, the British presidential campaign Ads on c-span caught my attention. There was one word for it CIVILIZED. Instead of bad-mouthing each other, both the Conservative party and the labour party had ads that focused on what they would do. Blair mentioned some things he HAD done. Ultimately they both had the same message each stressing on what they would do in areas that had been traditionally ingnored by the other party(subtle critic). I was amazed at how constructive their aproaches both were. If I were British I would vote for BOTH parties; that's how well they came across. This of course means that which ever won I would not be quite so anti-government. Far be it from me to suggest Americans learn a thing or two from our allies(we are far to arrogant for that),but I must mention that after centuries of battle and turmoil the British are actually doing it right! They can come away from elections and say-" hey,I didn't agree with that guy on a few issues but he's not so bad."
American politics has become so polar because we focus so much on throwing mud at each other to gain votes we completely entrench our opposition in its extreme stance. BOTH the right and left are guilty of doing this. Of-course after elections we look for "Bi-partisan" support for bills etc. Anyone else see a problem with this senario?
Personal beliefs aside, the majority of politicians fought to get into office for nobel reasons rather than an agenda to destroy the country. And for every mistake any politician makes, they also make some good calls. It is very similar to the half empty, half full theory. Are we going to focus on the Good an individual can do or will we undermine all his efforts by focusing on the negative. I am not saying critic has no place in the system. I am saying that some how all we hear is critic, critic, critic. Once in a while both sides should stand back and commend oponents for achievements.
Then again, what do I know?
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A reason why the British election campaign is so civilized:
They run a parliamentary system. Every potential Prime Minister is already a Member of Parliament, and so chances are that, even if they lose their bid to become P.M., they still will be an M.P., and so they need not be so damn desperate to win since they still have a job at the end of the exercise :smile:
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