We all have our devoted followings. We call it loyalty. Undying support. For sports teams and companies and obviously our loved ones. And clearly, this also applies to partisan politics more than ever these days.
The partisan lean of the United States is about as different as iPhone users and Android phone users. Which really aren’t all that different, but you can admit there is one you definitely favor much harder. And I mean “belting out a Journey song as loudly as you can at karaoke night” hard. And that sort of passion definitely gets even thicker with some super passion assigned to politics and religion.
Let’s take a look back at what happened in 2008, when it was Barack Obama vs John McCain. Some may say that Sarah Palin’s media gaffs dismayed swing voters. Which is likely true. But the real reason Obama easily rolled is that he was running against a Republican during an era where people wanted a change after the George W Bush administration that featured terrorism, division, wars and a massive economic recession as its caboose. Not a great swan song.
But let’s put that all aside, because now things get turbulent. McCain may have just pulled the nation out of recession as Obama eventually did. I liked John McCain, and most of the time, these economic circumstances stabilize on their own. But this was an era when social media and yellow journalism started to peak. It created bubbles of belief systems and heated disdain for anyone on the other side. Like Bud Light and Miller Lite drinkers — or people who hang their toilet paper in different directions.
Fast forward to 2016: Now we have a very obvious Democratic candidate being Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, the Republican debates before the primary were just a mudslinging showcase of everyone trashing each other. Donald Trump was the best at it. He was, however, largely criticized at this time by Republicans — many thought his campaign was a circus. They didn’t really see him as presidential.
But at the end of the day, he won the primary. He pleased voters who thought he would be something new. What the Democrats of the time didn’t realize is that Republicans always show up to vote. And they always vote against the Dems. Trump was getting every conservative vote, no matter what. They were all voting against the left. Which is ironic, because that’s what the left was accused of in 2020. And both are likely true.
The Dems were more fastidious in 2016. Many felt Hillary was just another robotic politician. Half of them wanted Bernie Sanders, who was someone thought to be a challenge to the establishment (just like that guy who won). But fewer voted. They had no passion or desire for any of it.
And that difference is huge. While the right wing of the US will always show up and vote for the right wing candidates, no matter who they are? The left is divided between centrists, progressives, extremists, and people who don’t believe in voting period. It’s just like my 4th grade student council election — when they elected Donald Trump over me.
But this is why the left loses elections, in spite of having a larger national populous. Well, that alongside gerrymandering and the electoral college, but that’s a discussion for another time. The point is they nationally always have a higher vote.
Conservatives do vote to win for their party, but they also treat it like sports fandom. Liberals are more iffy about the choices they get. The fact is the 2-party system has put everyone in a position where they’re often not being represented. They’re just picking a team to win, or the oft-quoted “lesser of two evils.”
But even that isn’t accurate. It’s just someone clicking a checkmark at the voting both with a letter beside it that matches what they support: all Rs or all Ds. Maybe treating our political representation like a basketball game between two teams isn’t a benefit. The potential political nominees for the GOP will be spewing hate all of next year at one another — but at the end of the day, they’ll be supportive of each other.
Political voting can be a little like choosing an ice cream flavor. Be very picky about what you want — but if it isn’t available? That doesn’t mean you just have to pick a flavor you don’t actually like. We could have tons of options. Try out new things! And maybe we could see actual evolution in our ice cream policies.
I mean…”political” policies. Oops. Not ice cream. One of these is clearly better than the other, though. I just hope we can all be better and perhaps someday develop a system that isn’t two teams violently playing dodgeball against each other in 7th grade.