We Need A Discussion of The Issues, Please

Years ago, when I was studying history in college, I became interested in reading on the philosophy of history. The historian must pick from the many pieces of information usually available and edit those materials to produce a finished product. Documents, letters, newspapers, video and photographs can make up much of the source materials that go into writing a history of contemporary events. These are all materials directly related to the events under review. But, what about all those things that do not directly get analyzed?

The culture of a people speaks volumes about their country and their societies. The music, art, literature, films and TV are also windows into understanding the culture of a people. In the United States, we have many cultures thriving at the same time. But, with the election year it is interesting to me how the campaigns try to appeal to the people. Some campaigns emphasize the positives while other campaigns pursue a negative course.

John McCain’s campaign, in my opinion, is so bankrupt that they can do no more than talk negatively about Obama, rather than talk positively about what John McCain can do for the country. Given the number of problems facing this country and the next president, you would think that the people would demand a better accounting of the issues that separate these two candidates. Hopefully, the presidential campaign will return to issues of substance and less of personalities once the national conventions are behind us. The American people are entitled to a presidential campaign of the issues, and there are enough of them to debate. I would like to see the level of the debate raised and for each candidate to state clearly their plan for getting our domestic economy back on track.