Election Day 2010

Here we are again: November. Every two years, November is the time for major political reforms. It's when the American public gets to decide who's going to be in charge for the next two years. It's a time to let the government know exactly what is on the people's minds; it's supposed to be the grand and glorious time that separates America from all other countries. Hundreds of years of protest and cries of foul has given the people of today their voice in the government. This day would be the day that America's beauty would shine at its greatest, our forefathers had hoped before. But instead of this glorious day that people had imagined, this day is instead a bold reminder of the great divide between the people of America. This year, as the citizens of America grew unhappy about the absence of change promised by the Democrats in 2006 and 2008, they decided to give the Republicans a chance to change the government. As a result, they gained much more Republicans in the House (eventually winning the House), a decent amount of increase in the Senate, and some more in gubernatorial races across the country. But as Republicans celebrate, what is the cost of giving so much power to one political party? How did it come to this day, where political parties have split to this extent? The answer comes from sources earlier than one would expect.

The first movement towards political parties were the split in opinions between Alexander Hamilton (Federalists) and Thomas Jefferson (Republicans), back in the very beginning of America. Their split in opinions was the start, the push, that set off the pendulum. Ever since, the American public has decided that the best way to run the country was to give all the power to one party. The pendulum that represents American's faith will swing from the far left to the far right, from Democrats to Republicans, always in a continual motion, when in fact the purpose was to get to the perfect equilibrium.

None of this political divide is more evident than when Republican leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, said ahead of the election,“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." In the current state of America, with almost everything appearing like a problem, the biggest concern for the Republicans is to make sure President Obama isn't re-elected? Not even thinking about the still underachieving economy, the big healthcare issue that still looms, the terrorists threats posed, or even just the basic well-being of the average American citizen, the biggest issue is to make sure one's own party gains more power? The whole meaning of parties is tarnished with this comment: parties are a group of people with similar political beliefs, not a group of people that wants to have different political views from the other party. Democrats and Republicans alike should learn to compromise to move together towards a better future for America, not argue just for the sake of arguing with the opposite party. The only way to achieve the "perfect equilibrium" is to put aside one's differences and compromise. As George Washington, one of this country's most revered presidents has said before, "With slight shades of difference, you [the American people] have the same manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together." The key here is just not to magnify those "slight shades of differences".