misdirection
We all want to believe in something greater than ourselves. That’s a natural human desire. When we see the imperfect world around us, and the struggles we face as Americans, we want to believe that it can be resolved in the striving of mere human effort — by electing politicians who share our desire to improve this country. This is where the myth of Barack Obama started — that he wasn’t just any other politician. We were asked to believe that Barack Obama, in addition to being a historical transformative figure as the Democratic nominee, was some kind of savior. Who could forget Michelle Obama’s comment about our souls being broken, and her solution to those broken souls being her husband Barack? Senator Clinton was right to mock this kind of talk. No elected official will ever be a saint, much less a savior of all of us. It’s interesting that so many people believe that this kind of spiritual void can be filled by a politician.
In the process of a campaign, we put our faith in a human being, who is just as imperfect as the rest of us (although possibly more photogenic). Idealism gets shattered once in a while. That’s just the nature of the game. It’s unfortunate, but we all need a little bit of healthy skepticism when it comes to politicians, because even the good ones disappoint us on one issue or another. If you want someone who can represent you well on policy matters, do your homework and vote for the best candidate. If you want someone to fix your soul, that’s beyond the ability of human politics.
