The next presidential election looms ahead in just under two years. After two terms of presidency, and great controversy, George W. Bush will step down from office and another will take his place. Just who that other person is will be decided in 20 months and it will prove to be a scary sight.

If the 2006 midterm elections were any prediction of future elections, the 2008 presidential election will be vicious and ugly. In 2006, we saw a wave of negative advertisements used to defame political opponents to a degree never before seen. How many voters can say that they did not vote for a candidate, but simply voted against a candidate they found distasteful?

American politics have become extremely polarized, with only extreme right or extreme left candidates running for office. Political “mudslinging” is extremely prevalent and has become the most often used tactic.

Novelist Orson Scott Card states, “We have never been so evenly divided with such hateful rhetoric since the years leading up to the Civil War of the 1860s.” Shouldn’t this alarm us?

The men and women of congress show each other little respect publicly, making the divisions worse.

Nonpartisanship has become “agree with me” instead of actual consensus. It looks like our representatives are doing what is good for themselves or their party rather than what is good for the nation.

This next election will most definitely to be the same, if not worse. We have an ideologically split nation that may never reach consensus on any issue, leaving the “winner takes all” approach for in official appointments.

One cannot predict the outcome of the 2008 election, but it is easy to guess how it will be carried out. The Republican and Democrat candidates will be vicious and ruthless towards each other, using a great deal of negative campaigning. Those who do vote, as the national voting percentage is at about 48 percent, will again vote down party lines.

America cannot survive such an environment much longer. We must all reach a consensus, because it is counter intuitive that a nation that strives to draw strength from its diversity to espouse such a danger from its divisions.

But do our representatives actually represent our sentiments and our beliefs? The staff of this paper varies widely in opinion and political ideology, but remains amicable if not good friends. In a larger sense, it is the same with this institution. We, as students, faculty and staff vary widely, from the extremely conservative to the extremely liberal, yet one does not hear the same hateful rhetoric used in the public forum, or in the classroom, that is used in the halls of Congress.

Elon attempts to teach us that we can make a difference, and reaffirm the truth that we are the future of this nation. We are a nation held together by something so uniquely different than any other. We are a nation brought and held together by ideas, not divided by them. We believe that while we disagree on a great many issues, we are still held together by the simple fact that everyone’s opinion has value, and that to be a truly great people, every voice must be heard. We must respect each other despite our difference of opinion and carry that belief into adulthood.

Despite our representatives and presidential candidates readiness to resort to political mudslinging and name calling, we, as students and citizens, must remember what is important and beautiful about this nation.The divisions that are occurring now should not carry over into the future. We can truly make a difference, as our university has tried to teach us.

Staff: - 02/15/07