Change I Can Believe In

Things this political season have changed so much that I think it's safe to say they're exactly the same.

I'm not sure what it says about humanity, but one thing I've learned as we approach this election is that no matter what gets brought up by either side, no matter what incident gets mentioned by the press, no matter how any event or issue is spun by those running the campaigns, people immediately fall straight into line. It doesn't matter if it's Governor Sarah Palin appearing on Saturday Night Live or anything else, those in her party will proclaim it a success and those on the other side will call it lame.

I don't even have to look at the source anymore. If someone discovers that Obama wrote a blurb for Ayers' book, the right will see this as further evidence of something or other and the left will say "so what."

I suspect the only reason these things get mentioned at all, anything from McCain's association with Liddy to Obama's 57 state comment, is to get each side's supporters off their asses and into the voting booths. With the dismal turnout that we in America usually show, I think either side can win if they just get over three-fourths of their supporters out. Karl Rove was famous for this, not only in trying to get all the Republicans to vote, but for trying to depress the Democrats enough that they'd choose to sit home and cry rather than vote for Gore or Kerry.

No, I'm talking about voter suppression at the polls, or the sometimes questionable purging of registered voters, merely attempts to keep people at home. President Clinton, now, may be trying to do that by his repeated assertions that the election is in the bag for Obama, that it's going to be a wipeout. His message strikes me as being close to "this thing is won, don't bother showing up," a message that would help his wife while also being one he can point to as showing his support for the Democrats.

Anyway, one thing I'm sure of is that whatever gets released will be pointed at by one side as being important while simultaneously subject to innocent explanations by the other. Anything may get "your" side out, get them riled up enough to vote, but very little of it adds anything to political discourse.

Then, again, if someone can proclaim "Country First!" while selecting a uniquely inept person to be his running mate, pretty much everything is possible.