Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   EDITORIAL Friday, September 10, 2004 The presidential campaign: ‘A pox on both their houses’? Now that the Republican convention is behind us and there are less than two months to go until Election Day in November, we feel compelled to say in public what so many Americans are saying in private: The vast majority of us cannot wait for this long, bitter, divisive presidential campaign to come to an end. Perhaps it seems as if this year’s marathon has gone on forever because it started so early with the process of a dozen Democratic candidates seeking their party’s nomination. Perhaps it seems as if few presidential campaigns have ever been more bitter because every utterance has been televised and parsed a thousand times over, and because feelings run so deep on both sides in the midst of a war in Iraq and a nation torn by disagreement at home. Seldom, if ever, in our nation’s political history have so many spent so much to sway public opinion so little. The millions upon millions of dollars poured into political advertising have apparently, in the end, barely moved the needle of public opinion in either direction. Outside of rallying the faithful and preaching to the choir, the endless trips by both presidential candidates and their vice presidential attack dogs to the “swing states” of Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan have resulted largely in increased voter distaste for both parties as they chase the increasingly elusive “undecided” voter. Not a few persons have echoed the opinion voiced by Therese Borchard — a columnist syndicated by Catholic News Service whose views are carried in this week’s Exponent on the Commentary page — that the candidate they would most like to see win the presidency of the United States in 2004 simply does not exist. Yes, we know that our Church calls us to become involved in the political process. We know that every American – Catholic and otherwise – should exercise their right to vote in this election. We know that Catholics, in particular, have a moral obligation, as pointed out repeatedly by the U.S. bishops, to take part in the political process and work for a better world. We know that cynicism is a poor excuse to walk away from striving to make this nation and the world a better place. We know that, in almost every respect, two very different views of what course this nation should take are under discussion as this year’s election campaign sprints toward its conclusion less than 60 days from today. But we also know that someone will have to govern this nation when the election is over. No matter who wins, bringing the country back together will fall somewhere between impossible and terribly difficult. So many friendships have been shattered by the bitterness of the debate; so much bile has been spilled among various segments of our society which favor one candidate or the other. The false charges and countercharges on both sides have escalated to unprecedented heights. The Federal Government has virtually ground to a halt in Washington as both parties have turned from putting the good of the American people first to redoubling their efforts to belittle their opponents, blocking any meaningful legislation from becoming law. The level of political discourse in Washington and across this vast land has fallen to lows barely before imagined. Amid such an atmosphere, not a few people have been heard to say “a pox on both their houses” and insist they are planning to sit this election out. We understand their weariness. Like them, we cannot wait for this election to be history. But we call upon Catholics in this diocese and beyond of whatever political persuasion to be participants, not bystanders, in the political process. Weary or not, we cannot shirk our civic and moral duty. Following the Gospel demands no less. — Lou Jacquet/Editor   Back to Exponent Menu Printer Friendly Page   Other Articles of 2004   Democrats’ consideration of modified abortion stance welcome   Coach’s dismissal gives some insight into America’s psyche   Arafat’s death an opening, but Middle East peace remains elusive   The presidential campaign: ‘A pox on both their houses’?   150,000 and more put aside scandals, embrace beacon of hope   When Catholic schools close, parents must shoulder some of the blame   Jews, Christians respect one another across great divide of faith   Latest ‘civil war’ pits defenders of marriage against courts   Civility in short supply as nation faces a barroom brawl   Catholic publications ‘speak truth to power’ nationwide, up north   Past Articles From 2003