US Politics 2008: How Fear and Hope have shaped the current political landscape

This recent press back that we are seeing in the media against Senator Obama is probably to be expected. Here is why...

I think that it is representative of a greater issue than the US elections that is taking place within the US-what we are actually witnessing is a tug of war between two opposing right here within the United States borders. One one side of the rope you have something that seems to be representative of today's conservative movement-that is an outlook dominated by fear, pessimism, and a feeling of moral superiority and on the other side you have a group that today seems to present in the vast majority on the left-hope (for a better future).

From a historical point of view, I believe that the mid 1990's saw a conservative base that was growing steadily in strength, yet found it very difficult to fully flex their muscles given the brilliance of former President Bill Clinton. President Clinton was an enigma of sorts, came in on social issues adopting a stance that was difficult to neatly categorize. On some issues he was liberal but on many others he appeared to be centrist or to the right of the center and on fiscal/trade issues he was extremely bullish. He faced a republican controlled congress, but somehow found ways to implement measures that benefited a very large cross section of the US population, while still doing things like balancing the national budget. I think that him being able to make his accomplishments look so easy greatly infuriated the majority of the Republican party and followers. Naturally, when word got out about the Monica Lewinsky situation the conservative base saw the event as if it was manna that had fallen from heaven. So in spite of his many gains for our nation, Clinton became vilified by the conservative talk show hosts and the un-biased media followed suit. The practical side of this vilification is that democrats or liberals, as they like to call us, began to become very unpopular in politics at this time.

So given that as a backdrop Al Gore's task of campaigning to become US President in 2000, while trying to distance himself from Clinton was an uphill battle. The person that had been touted as a moral and business, George W. was sworn in as the US president following a bitter and contested election. And it seemed that the energy had been drained from the Republican Party because after winning they became quiet whilst the rest of the country was still crying foul. On top of that a steady stream of stories began coming out about prominent and visible members of the republican party-like corruption, sex scandals, and the like...

Lo and behold comes the tragedy of 9/11 and things began to turn around for the conservative movement. But at first, like for the first few weeks after the tragic events of 9/11, our nation saw a coming together of America's previously separate communities. It was very amazing and inspiring to see everyone displaying so much unity, pride, and togetherness in our country. In contrast to today even the international community surrounding us was eager to come to our aid.