Judgement Day???

November 2nd, 2004: A day that will live in infamy?

This coming Election Day has the potential to be one of the most important and pivotal days that we will have experienced in recent years; maybe even for this decade. The events that will take place tomorrow will shape the formation of our country and its people. Forget about who wins and whatever policies are made because of the winner. That is not the basis of this essay. This essay is to explain what I think will happen after tomorrow's events occur.

As everyone knows, this country, at the present time, is divided. Possibly more divided than has ever been before in history. Tomorrow is important because after the election, the thoughts and positions that are in this country's citizens' minds right now will undoubtedly become beliefs and ideals that are "set in stone." At this present moment, the future is uncertain. After tomorrow, the future is clear. People will have 4 more years to firmly adhere to their beliefs about the system that will be/ will not be implemented. The inner feelings of a losing party supporter will increase even more because there will not be anyone to talk about their views as the campaigning has stopped. The feelings will continually be "eating away" at that individual and will cause a great bitterness for the winning party. Now imagine this on the scale of the American population; if every one person thought this way. The country is said to be about "half and half" right now. That means that one-half of the country will be resentful to the other half. This, therefore, will cause "The Great Divide" of the United States. I feel that this is especially prominent in this election as both sides have been so nasty to each other this entire time. That has filtered down into the people.

One thing that I have observed within people in the recent year, is that there is much hostility from a person believing in one system and someone believing in the other. This bothers me to a great extent. We already have enough issues that presently separate us from each other: race, sex, religion, income, sexual orientation, belongings/ possessions, and many other barriers. Do we really need to add "political party affiliation" to that list? When I talk to my college friends back home, they told me that there was "Friendster" list for John Kerry. I looked at the list, and noticed that the entire group that I was with at school is on that friends list. Not only my friends, but a total of 180 people were on that list. I wondered how many people signed up on the list because they firmly believe in Kerry or that their friends signed on, so they decided to do it as well. The point that I am getting at is: Did this second group sign on as to not be judged by the first group? Imagine that an individual is sitting with all of his or her friends. All of his friends are Democrat supporters, yet he alone is the Republican (this situation applies both ways, just to be clear). They all begin to discuss the present political situation. Will this one person join the conversation with his views and say that he is a proud Republican? Will he stay out of the conversation? Or will he fake it and just go along with the rest of them? This right here is a divide. He knows that if he speaks up, he will be questioned by possibly all of his friends. My point is that will these "friends" look at him differently in the future? He shouldn't be judged, but as history shows, human nature isn't that friendly. Subconsciously, it still happens. I saw it myself when I was in high school. I was the only Democrat out of a group of 100 people (very small school). My school was entirely Republican, due to the fact that it was a Baptist Christian school. We were also located in a Southern area of the state. I tried to "campaign" in the 2000 election. I got some weird looks, second glands, scoffs, and shaking heads. In my case, it was fun being the counter-point to the rest of the school. My teacher arranged a fake school poll in the week before the election. It was 95-5. 95 for Bush; 5 for Gore. I was one of the Gore voters. The other 4 who voted for Gore were doing just out of spite for the others. The point is that I assumed that I would be respected for choosing my stance, but instead I was "set apart" by some means.

Also, it has been seen that an increasing number of young people, such as myself, have attempted to make some type of an active part in this election. I've talked to several of my friends and I asked why they have not previously or do not plan to vote. Most common response is that they were "lazy" (essentially). Immediately after that, I received the retort, "but it wouldn't matter anyways." Now imagine this: An individual puts in time and effort to listen to candidates, to read about them, to even do some sort of campaigning, or even only do the voting part. Their choice loses the election. Now combine being lazy and the my-vote-doesn't-matter-attitude with that person's choice losing the election. That person could potentially become bitter towards both the whole election process. They would consider it a waste of their time. They could be persuaded to never vote again. They might think that their vote was insignificant, and that they were right in their initial belief. This country would potentially lose another young voter. Again, imagine this on the scale of the country. If we lose these potential voters in this great of an amount, it would be a devastating blow to this country's political system. Keep in mind that I am talking about the young, 18 to 30 year old citizens. This is the generation that will determine the future for the next 50 to 70 years!!! This country could not afford to lose that group.

I do have to mention that I feel that this will happen more in the case if President Bush wins tomorrow. I, along with most of the people that I know are Democrats and most of the media I read/watch is liberal as well. This shows that I will personally be able to observe most of the negative feelings explained above. Also, I feel that based on the events of the election in 2000 and the resulting 4 years; many feel that they have been cheated. If Bush wins, this resentment will only increase.

Hopefully, I am entirely wrong. Hopefully, this essay will become completely irrelevant. Hopefully, people will not be judgmental of others. Hopefully, there is no "Great Divide." Hopefully, whatever the outcome, tomorrow proceeds without any problem and the next President is elected without a problem.

This is it. Last call. No more debates, no more campaigning, no more news programs or commercials. Tomorrow, we the people decide our future.