A Political Prayer Answered: Revisiting a post from 2012

(NOTE: This was posted in 2012.) 

I know someone who prays fervently and equally for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. She prays for them to have and to show strength of leadership. And that’s all. 

Hers isn’t a demanding grocery list style of prayer, asking for a specific outcome. It’s more about asking that leaders be given courage to be authentic. 

In the election season’s first presidential debate, her prayer was answered. Today, the day after the debate, I’m grateful to President Obama and Governor Romney for their comportment, their conduct. For the first time in months – in fact, years – I felt I was regarded seriously as a thinking voter. For 90 minutes, the two leaders expressed their visions and plans free from vitriol that has marred the campaign season until now.

 

To his credit, the President didn’t resort to jabbing at Romney for the “47 percent” sound-bite slip. To his credit, Romney didn’t retreat to Obama’s “clinging to their guns and religion” fundraiser foulup. Instead, they spent the 90 minutes being specific about policy and accenting their differences. And though Jim Lehrer has been soundly criticized as a moderator, his unusual questioning technique of asking the candidates to describe their differences proved valuable. 

As a result, listeners were able to make a rational comparison of the clear choices in this election. What a refreshing break from social media sound bite madness. 

Look, I’m as guilty as any when it comes to the immediacy and constancy of the new normal in news cycles. So is my daily management of several social media and incessant channel hopping among CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. But for 90 minutes – and only those 90 minutes – I enjoyed the freedom to listen and think. I didn’t bother with the all-too-predictable pre- and post-telecast spin that I usually crave. 

Admittedly I did monitor tweets during the debate, but soon became bored with those, as they were far too silly. So now it’s back to “real life” in the campaign, with a barrage of negativity that I just don’t need. But I really wish the respective campaign teams were not slaves to the digital marketplace of ideas, because the ideas there are largely shallow, self-serving and hate-filled. Instead, I wish the campaigns had the ability to respect us and give us more of the actual discourse we witnessed in the Denver debate. That, to me, would be a political prayer answered. So may it ever be.