Calling all followers
Back when the field of 2008 presidential candidates seemingly numbered in the dozens, I found myself hoping for an Obama-McCain final. There were two people who had shown enough independence to deal with ideological conflict as honest, respectable differences of opinion. Both had shown an ability to see merit in the opposition's case and to join forces across party lines in the interest of a solemnly held value.
With candidates like that on the ballot, maybe we could have an enlightened, constructive and informative campaign.
So far, I think the candidates have done a pretty good job of voicing their cases without some of the mean-spirited pettiness that has become common in years past. It's all relative, of course.
Still, as some of the evolving threads on this and other blogs show, the leaders may be trying to show the way, but the followers have gone off along tired old paths of negativism.
In my opinion, it's a sad reflection on the candidates if the most their backers can do is trash the opposition.
If that's the what the campaign promises, we'll have missed a rare opportunity.