party politics

What kind of country are we living in? The other night I was at a party where there was a healthy cross-section of Republicans and Democrats. Naturally, as the drinks started flowing, conversation began turning to the upcoming presidential election. It started with a few funny gibes, but quickly disintegrated into heated accusations. Next, voices rose. Before long, personal attacks against specific candidates began flying around the room. Predictably, this devolved into personal attacks against individuals at the party and sides were drawn. It was ugly, awkward, and shameful. You could sense that nobody was having any fun anymore.

I watched it all unfold, getting more and more depressed. I like all of these people on some level, and I just wanted to enjoy their company. But no. Soon I was being pressed to reveal who I intended to vote for. I declined. Then one guy started saying that I didn’t know anything about politics and probably wasn’t going to vote anyway. So I blurted it out: “I’m voting for Nader.”

Stunned silence. Then some laughter. Then some anger. Suddenly, I became a lightning rod for everyone’s hostility. Several asked, “Why would you throw away your vote like that?”

I told them I was bound to vote my conscience, and that the Nader/Gonzalez ticket spoke to my concerns most closely. They called me stupid, that he would never win. One woman told me my stubbornness would harm Obama’s chances. One guy told me that I must not support our troops as much as McCain does. That provoked a whole new argument and I wandered off into a corner.

I say screw these people. When I see them, long after this election is over, I imagine they will act like nothing ever happened. We will have a new president that I will be trying to live with. Some of them will be prideful, some will be bitter. But I won’t be saddled with regret that my candidate didn’t win. All I will know is that I was true to myself. Am I wrong to feel this way?

—I. C. Green

Dining Out says: Could the motto now be friendship, money, and politics don’t mix? It’s obvious that your friends can’t handle “red, white and blue” drunken psychobabble without resorting to childish playground antics. If that is the case with that particular group of so-called friends, then good riddance. My advice to you and my fellow Americans is to avoid talking politics over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres…especially after midnight, when everyone has consumed a few too many. These are heated times but America’s policies on social etiquette must remain intact.

The Practical Cogitator says: You’re wrong to have offered an opinion at all. Why wouldn’t you just leave? No one needs to know your politics. And you can’t have imagined you were going to convert a bunch of drunken, bickering mainstreamers. I’d say you had some idea what sort of response you’d get from throwing a bucket of Ralph Nader into the mix—more fire, not less. So let’s not play the peacemaker. American politics are nasty, brutish, and short-sighted. You got in the game and got what you asked for.

Dr. Sigmund Fraud says: This is another reason why I believe in the secret ballot. We have become a nation of nosy busybodies incapable of independent thought, and so we come to judge one another on everything from the brand of cola we drink to the political party we support. It’s pathetic, widespread, and probably here to stay. As long as there are elections, there will be ruined parties like the one you describe. But let me digress for a moment…

I remember watching the sun rise from the porch above the Rocky Mountains with a lover of mine back in the spring of 2001. She was very beautiful, and the morning light seemed to dance and shimmer on her golden hair. I had fallen into something of a trance, glancing now and then between her face, the snow-capped peaks, and a lone, bald eagle that was silently tracing circles in the brightening, blue sky.

As if from afar, I heard a gentle sigh, and I suddenly noticed that my companion had begun to cry. I was stunned that anything could be wrong in this beautiful tableau and asked her what was the matter.

She sniffed and said, “If I hadn’t voted for Nader, Gore might have won, and we wouldn’t have such a completely spoiled little frat boy mangling the English language and alienating all of our allies now. Don’t you see? I’m partly to blame for all the calamity I’m afraid W is capable of unleashing on the world!”

I rubbed her back and thought. After several minutes, I told her she was probably right.

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