The minute results are in on election night, we start strategizing about the four-years-from-now election. If this guy wins the governor's race, it bodes well for his party down the road. If this one loses, his or her whole party is in mortal danger. The whole country is constantly in contest mode.
Sometimes I have this fantasy: Right in the middle of a political debate, the man on the left "likes" something said by the woman on the right--or vice versa. "Hey, that's a good idea!" she says--to the stunned amazement of everyone on the stage and out there in TV Land. Surely, sometimes, even a crusty politician hears a phrase from the other side that he could like, just a little? Enough to start a conversation?
Or what if the camera turned away from the mud-slinging and zoomed in on a big blue bear in the audience, a bear wearing an expression of Zen-like amusement at the whole thing, a joy so big, so infectious, so untouched by Super-Anythings, that in the wink of a flashbulb, the whole assembly would instantly know: we've found our winner. I'm going to write in Big Blue Bear on my next ballot.
Sometimes I have this fantasy: Right in the middle of a political debate, the man on the left "likes" something said by the woman on the right--or vice versa. "Hey, that's a good idea!" she says--to the stunned amazement of everyone on the stage and out there in TV Land. Surely, sometimes, even a crusty politician hears a phrase from the other side that he could like, just a little? Enough to start a conversation?
Or what if the camera turned away from the mud-slinging and zoomed in on a big blue bear in the audience, a bear wearing an expression of Zen-like amusement at the whole thing, a joy so big, so infectious, so untouched by Super-Anythings, that in the wink of a flashbulb, the whole assembly would instantly know: we've found our winner. I'm going to write in Big Blue Bear on my next ballot.
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