Frustrating misperceptions
I went on a field trip with my daughter, who's in second grade, and got the opportunity to listen in to some of their conversations. I did not campaign at all, of course, but I did answer one child when asking for whom I would vote. This second grade perspective is indicative, I think, of parental influences more than any media coverage.
The one person who asked me to disclose my vote was surprised when I told her Barack Obama. Her response: "But he's not a Christian!" I responded, "of course he is. He's attended the same Christian church for 20 years. But, of course, it wouldn't matter to me if he was a Christian or not."
Another friend of my daughter told me that she had been told twice at school that Obama made mothers kill their children.
A boy we ate lunch with told us that Obama's dad is a terrorist. One of McCain's adult supporters helped me to correct this misperception.
My daughter passed on the comment from her friend on the bus that "Obama hates white people." and that he's going to take away all of our guns so we can't fight the war.
For the record, none of the second graders were talking about John McCain.
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Election Fatigue
The longer election season goes on, the less faith I have in the American electorate. It's not about whether or not my candidate will win, though I'm firmly in the Obama camp. If Obama doesn't win, I want it to be because the American public disagrees with his policies, or because they don't trust his experience. I fear, however, that if McCain wins, it will be simply because his campaign was better at mudslinging, half-truths, and appealing to the worst in all of us. The sad part is that a large portion of the American people are willing (and anxious) to believe it without suspicion, concern for fact, or even a glimmer of critical thinking. I'm now completely jaded - it must be election day. So, demoralized by the nastiness of politics, I went to my polling station, and cast my ballot. I'm now left to channel, my inner optimist, go to class, and hope for the best.