wanting / having

Though it is a relatively recent, sporadic development, Tennessee is a decidedly “red” state (which might actually speak volumes as to how the Democratic Party has lost itself and its course over the years, but that is another post for another time). However, in driving around the area, I have come across a rather surprising number of bumper stickers, yard signs, and other election-related materials all supporting Senator Barack Hussein Obama and Senator Joe Biden. Given that Tennessee’s overall tendencies are obviously in one particular direction this electoral year, this phenomena only convinced me more of something that has been bouncing around my empty head for a little while now:
People voting for Obama are doing so because they want to. People voting for McCain are doing so because they have to.
Granted, I hate playing semantics, and the difference is a small one, but I am starting to think that it holds a lot of weight. In reality, I am not convinced that the majority of Senator Barack Hussein Obama supporters actually know what they are getting in to… Too many of them seem far too caught up in the fervor, the neigh-on-religious frenzy surrounding the man, and are paying little to no attention to his actual stances, what he is really saying in those stirring, uplifting speeches, or where he would eventually take the country. One can hardly blame them in reality… the subtle pervasiveness of the “hope and change” mantra is all encompassing, and who can say “no” to the hope of changing the country for the better (or, at least, “better” in the eyes of Senator Barack Hussein Obama).
On the flip side, people who support Senator John McCain seem to understand far too well that he is definitively not ideal. He is not a conservative, by any stretch of the definition, and some of his stances on some issues are outright concerning. But given the choice between an imperfect, possibly incompetent candidate who is otherwise relatively benign, and a candidate who is already working to subvert the Constitution and, by extension, the country as a whole… Well, people are doing what they feel they must.
As such, they share no particular enthusiasm voting for McCain. No excitement. None of the hive mentality joy that comes from being “part of something greater”. Only the sullen satisfaction of doing one’s duty to try and keep America together, afloat, and intact, despite understanding that the candidate they are voting for is not perfect… only less imperfect than the other one.
Sure, we could vote for a third candidate, and make a point to the political establishment that we are not going to take this kind of bullshit any more. But the problem is, the more people that actually vote for third parties when they otherwise would have been voting for McCain… those are just more votes that Obama will not have to overcome to win. Should a miracle happen and one candidate or the other achieve a decisive lead, I suppose conservatives voting third-party to prove a point would have nothing to lose, but as it stands now, things are too close to consider tossing your vote just to prove a point.
So, yeah, there are a fair number of Obama signs in Tennessee, but I cannot really say as though I am concerned for this particular state. But it does say something about the nature of politics in America these days. When people are faced with voting for an anti-Constitution megalomaniac, complete with a fervently religious following, or for a dottering old man who will probably be no better or worse than what we have had for the past eight years… Well, you cannot blame people for going with the devil they know, but still not being happy about it.