Tomorrow is the biggest day in American politics for our generation to date. In the election between George W. Bush and John Kerry, America is choosing both a president and one side of a great split in world opinion.
This is because tomorrow is America's first conscious election after the Sept. 11 paradigm shift. Since the first three years of the war on terror were orchestrated top-down by the Bush administration, tomorrow is the first real opportunity for the American public to respond to the way that administration has chosen to wage this war.
In the 2000 election fiasco, the American public did not foresee Sept. 11. We did not know we were voting for - actually the popular majority voted against - a president who would lead us first into Afghanistan and then into Iraq. Nobody was talking about Osama bin Laden. Heck, we didn't even know where Afghanistan was. And for our ignorance, the rest of the world surprisingly did not blame us. Instead they offered their condolences after Sept. 11 and directed their criticisms of the war in Iraq against Bush.
Whether we should have gone into Iraq and, if so, how we should have conducted the war are both debatable. Whether it was in America's best interest and whether it will make America and the world a safer place in the long run are still unclear.
Also somewhat unclear is whether Kerry can lead a stronger, more effective war on terror. Bush's judgment and leadership have been seriously questioned by the Vietnam-like Iraqi insurgency and human rights violations highlighted by the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. But - and this is very important - unfortunately Kerry has failed to meet the challenger's challenge to define himself. He has not articulated his positions strongly enough to convince a majority of the American public that he will protect and secure America better than Bush. Understandably Kerry is restricted to vague rhetoric because if he says how he really feels in too much detail, he will lose swing voters. This is a sad consequence of the American political system.
Still the latest Gallup polls show Kerry at 46 percent and Bush at 51 percent. We are a nation deeply divided. Both sides of this civil war seem to feel very strongly one way or the other. And the few undecided voters in America who remain on the fence have all been interviewed for ridicule on the Daily Show by John Stewart.
Everyone on campus - both left and right - seems to say this decision is a no-brainer. But this may well be the closest election in American history. The decision between Bush and Kerry, I believe, is anything but crystal clear.
What is clear, however, is the opinion of the rest of the world. According to a survey of 35 countries conducted by the polling company Globescan Inc., if the rest of the world had a vote, John Kerry would win a landslide victory more handily than Oksana Baiul won the 1994 Olympic figure skating gold medal. In the polls, Kerry came up the big winner in Britain, Brazil, Canada, China, the Dominican Republic, France, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Norway, and Venezuela among others. In Germany and the Netherlands, 74 percent of the people polled strongly support Kerry over Bush.
One question we should ask ourselves is why the rest of the world so unevenly favors Kerry. What do they see that we can't that makes this choice a no-brainer? I seriously doubt Canada thinks Kerry is the weaker candidate and hopes he wins so they can take over America. I also doubt they favor Kerry because he will make America stronger and safer. In fact, I doubt that the rest of the world really knows anything about John Kerry at all.
What they do know is that they oppose the war in Iraq and blame President Bush for an unjust, preemptive, unilateral attack. While they may have an inkling that Kerry would be a better partner for negotiation and cooperation, basically they don't like Bush, so they vote for the other guy, who just so happens to be John Kerry.
Voting for Kerry because he is Anybody-But-Bush is not necessarily the wisest choice, but sadly the choice in part I seem to have resorted to. Again, Kerry's need to cater to the middle keeps his tongue tied. It is unfortunate that we cannot know what a candidate really thinks until he is elected. If Kerry sours quickly like milk, so too will the opinion of the rest of the world.
In a moment of indecision then, vote for Kerry because of peer pressure.
Now, we were taught when we were young that peer pressure is something "you just say no to." But that's not how it really works on the playground at recess. All your friends are doing something, so you do it too to be accepted and well liked. We all want to have friends. There's no fun in sitting alone on one side of the see-saw.
For the past three years, international critics of American foreign policy have distinguished their feelings toward the American people from their disapproval of the actions of the state. Nay-sayers of the war in Iraq have blamed Bush, not the American public. But if we re-elect Bush, we will lose all our cool international friends - or ruin any chance of making some in the near future. Everybody else will be playing a big fun game of capture the flag while we play hide-and-go-seek by ourselves with Osama.
Kerry may be a wildcard, but I believe he can bring respect and dignity to America. Only a new face can shift world opinion in our favor. To be internationally well liked will be an important part of a strong American foreign policy. Kerry has a real chance to help us rebuild American credibility in a way George W. Bush clearly does not.
It is almost anathema on a liberal college campus in Massachusetts to defend the Bush record or justify the war in Iraq. I feel a lot of peer pressure to vote for John Kerry. And so because I can't know whether Kerry will pull through or how history will judge Bush's wars, I voted to give Kerry the chance to rebuild America's reputation abroad. All my friends are voting for Kerry and everyone else in the world seemed to be telling me I should, so in the end I caved in to peer pressure.
