Misdeeds in a politician’s private life can be bothersome, but not as bothersome as when that politician is hypocritical about them. For example, I don’t believe I have a double standard when I say I’m angrier with the typical Republican when he or she has a sex scandal than when the typical Democrat does. This is because of what the average Republican says he or she stands for. When former President Bill Clinton had his sex scandal, I was more amused than anything. I didn’t really hold it against him because family values were never a cornerstone of his campaign. On the other hand, when former preacher Ted Haggard paid male prostitutes for sex, I was angry because he had previously said homosexuality was an abomination and he was opposed to gay rights.
This standard applies to other issues as well. Former Vice President Al Gore is one of the country’s strongest proponents of reducing greenhouse gases. Despite this, his home produces more than 20 times the national average. To rationalize his extravagant, energy-consuming lifestyle, he spends extra money to be “carbon neutral” — a luxury the average American cannot afford. Despite all this, he has the gall to tell the average American to watch his or her energy consumption. On the other hand, if a politician who didn’t make a big deal about human-caused climate change used the same amount of energy, I would not be upset.
It is with this mind-set that I look at the 2008 presidential election. The biggest qualification a presidential candidate looks for in a running mate is someone who will balance the ticket. They want someone who has strengths with certain constituencies in which they have weaknesses. In an attempt to balance the ticket, both Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee John McCain were hypocritical in their choice of running mate.
Obama is running partially on the platform of fresh government and opposition to the war in Iraq since before it began. His choice of Sen. Joe Biden goes against both of these principles. Biden has been in the Senate for 36 years and is certainly not a fresh face. He also voted to authorize the use of force in Iraq, allowing President Bush to start the war in Iraq.
McCain picked Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. McCain has been relentlessly attacking Obama’s mere three years in the Senate by saying three years is not enough experience to be president of the United States. Then he chooses Palin, who has just less than two years of experience as the governor of Alaska. It is hypocritical to attack one person for inexperience and then pick another person with comparable or slightly less experience as your partner.
One thing we as Americans have come to expect of our politicians is that they will be politicians. They will say or do anything to get elected and, once in office, will not always act in a moral or law-abiding fashion. Hypocrisy and lies are some of the few traits that cross party lines and in fact may be the two things that are most closely associated with politicians.
This is the state of our political system as Obama enters the national light. He promises to stand for a new sort of government: to be the new politician. He has had several opportunities to back up this claim, and yet has failed to do so time and time again.
When McCain chose Palin, I could more easily shrug off his decision as something that a normal politician would do; however, when Obama made his choice, I was less able to forgive him because his hypocrisy was opposed to his overall message.
Obama’s most striking failed opportunity was when he took his name off of the Michigan ballot during the primary. He had an opportunity to set himself apart from the other Democrats in the race. But he followed the Democratic Party’s lead in an attempt to get more votes from Iowans instead of allowing Michiganians to fully exercise their right to vote. If Obama were not purely a politician, he would have left his name on the ballot in the name of democracy.
Politicians will be politicians. If you are looking to elect someone who is not a pure politician to be president of the United States, I recommend looking beyond the Democratic and Republican parties, or at least beyond 2008.
Alex Freitag is a State News columnist and a political science and history senior. Reach him at freitaga@msu.edu.
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