If you haven't been keeping up with the 2010 election results, you've spared yourself a lot of pain. And I'm not talking about the fact that the Republicans "won" the House, or that the Democrats "kept" the Senate. (I'm not referring to California's Prop 19 failure either.) I am speaking of the awful competition between the parties at the expense of democracy.
Last night I was watching CNN's report of the election results as the ballots were being counted. There was a panel of sorts, composed of prominent politicians from both the Left and the Right. As voting data came in, they provided commentary about the significance of the votes, hardly masking their personal opinions and reactions. (Which is just fine by me, no matter which side you subscribe to. I'm all for personal expression.)
The thing that saddened...nay, maddened...nay, infuriated me was the way these politicians were talking about the results. Why do we say that the Republicans won the House? Yes, candidates that belong to the Republican party do represent a majority presence there. But really? Do we have to say that "they" won?
By saying "they" (in effect, labeling myself non-Republican) we are setting ourselves apart. The same could be said about "we." "We" insinuates that there is a "they," which creates a boundary between groups of people. Is this necessary in US politics? I don't think so. Why do we say that "they" win or "we" win? Shouldn't we all be winning? This is, after all, the point of a democracy - a country ruled by the people.
I think we've strayed from the original intentions of democracy. By no means do I hold to the rose-colored fantasy that the American governmental system is perfect. I am well aware of corruptions, loopholes, shortcomings, misguidances, etc etc etc that exist. But shouldn't we at least try to bring about the greatest justice by banning together and working as a cohesive unit? No more of this "us/them" dichotomy.
It's not about the Republicans "winning" or the Democrats "keeping." It's about the US functioning. It's about the American people voting for individuals they want as representatives. It's about working together for the things that need to change. Which, let's be honest, no matter if you're Republican, Democrat, Independent, Green, Tea, or anything else, there are myriad problems to address. So let's ban together and get things done, not sit and run our mouths about winning and losing.
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