By Taylor Nigrelli
Assistant Sports Editor
It’s impossible not to be bombarded by coverage of the presidential election every four years., The circus known as primary season causes the election’s to dominate of mainstream media to span over a year.
The mudslinging, verbal mishaps and overall negativity of politics turns what should be an exciting time into a time most , people just want to be over. But that’s not what’s most disappointing to me. What really bothers me about election season is the complete ignorance of far too many people when it comes to what the role of the president is. Before social media, this ignorance would have gone mostly unnoticed to me. Alas, I spend hours every day browsing Facebook and Twitter, and am exposed to the opinions of the masses.
I’m not one to be offended or annoyed by a person who supports a different candidate than I support, provided that person has the slightest idea why he or she supports that candidate. Based on what I’ve seen and heard, the most important issue is what candidate has the better plan to fix the economy.
The Mitt Romney supporters I’ve been exposed to claim he wants to “fix the economy,” as if it’s a broken object that can easily be fixed. They also claim he wants to “grow the economy” and “get the economy back on track.” They criticize President Obama for not creating enough jobs. It seems as though most people have a very poor understanding of how the economy works and what the job of the president is.
The global economy is dependent on billions of people. These people actually believe that one man is going to change all that. They also completely ignore the fact that the President is just part of one branch of the U.S government. Did no one listen during third grade social studies about the system of checks and balances?
Of course, ridiculous assertions are not limited to Republicans. In some cases they don’t even list Romney’s faults; rather they just claim that his election to office would be the “end of the world.” They say things like “we’re screwed if Romney’s elected” or “I’m moving to Canada” but they rarely give any reason why.
The ignorance of the average American when it comes to what the president does is astounding. I’m not downplaying the role of Commander-in-Chief but the fact people believe the fate of the world is in the hands of one man is beyond troubling. I’m not asking Republicans and Democrats to stop bickering like some people have.
All I ask is that if you’re going to open your mouth, make sure you know what you’re talking about.
