Normal Isn’t Good Enough

How naive of me. Just when I thought the political process had changed, Mitt Romney’s opponents got stuck on his supposed “flip-flopping.” Romney fought back with charges that are equally suspect. Supporters of the Republican candidates threw mud in the name of the cause in South Carolina. An email message continued to circulate around the Internet spreading lies that have all been disproved about Barack Obama, and last week Hillary Clinton and Obama started the first in their series of ridiculous arguments about who said what and when. Perhaps John Edwards said it best in Monday night’s Democratic debate. “This isn’t about us.”

I hope someone is listening to Edwards. The economy is tanking, and some people can’t afford gasoline to get to the three minimum wage jobs they’re working just to put food on the table and pay the electric bill. They can’t afford medical care, and many have loved ones who have completed or are in the middle of a third tour of duty in Iraq. They don’t care as much about the past as they do the present and the future.

Party leaders try to explain that this behavior is normal in a political contest. This time around, normal isn’t good enough. Too much is at stake.

It’s time for the candidates to focus on plans to get our lives and our country back on track. That’s all I want to hear. That’s all that will make me vote for anyone, and I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels that way.