Here's Hoping

As the heated pressure builds during these remaining important days before the upcoming 2006 elections, one can cut the political tension with a blunt butter knife. For the first time in years the Republican party has caught a minor sweat - sadly, it took a despicable sex scandal (Mark “I have a drinking problem” Foley), a underground league of lying, cheating, manipulative, money-hungry, Republican constituents (Jack “Gimme Gimme” Abramoff), a masquerade of politically incorrect (not to mention childish and extremely unprofessional, yet enjoyable) commercials (Pick your Republican Candidate), and an incompetent President (George “Stay the Course” Bush) who has no idea how severely he has destroyed the political system on a global scale, to bring this "minor" sweat to fruition.

One would think the Democrat's have a fairly decent chance to reclaim some ground on The Hill, reclaim some seats, and potentially rid our Congress of complete and total Republican pull, right?

I’d be careful with those thoughts, and here’s why:

At this very moment, it is hard to ignore the fact that both parties are congealed in a fantastical illusion of hope. Now, last time I checked, having your party’s political integrity based on a sense of anticipation is defiantly shameful, and blatantly displays how weak our political structure truly is. If our system of democracy actually worked – which would only happen if our leaders diligently practiced good politics - neither party would be “hoping” for their success. Sadly, voters and politicians alike are crossing their fingers, biting their nails, and praying, praying, praying that nothing else surfaces before Tuesday.

Now, even though the Republican Party is looking quite the mess, it is important to note that they have been the triumphant team of all the elections these past six years. There is a reason for this: They have a dedicated, devoted and committed voter base – an essential ingredient to political success. However, it is interesting to note that because of all of the “Oops,” “Whoops” and “Uh oh’s” the Republican Party has had to face this year, many of their voting base is said to be staying home instead of participating in their right to vote. This makes sense. Let’s hope.

So let’s recap: The only way the Democrats are going to win this one is if our voter turnout is more prominent than that of the Republicans. Right now we might not be able to vote our Democratic candidates into power completely, but at least we can give the Republicans a run for their money.

Cross your fingers.