Emmylou Harris said, “As citizens we have to be more thoughtful and more educated and more informed. I turn on the TV and I see these grown people screaming at each other, and I think, well, if we don’t get our civility back, we’re in trouble.” I couldn’t agree with her more during this election season.
The person on the other side of the issue may think differently than you but is still a person worthy of respect and kindness. You don’t have to like them, you can hate them but is it really doing anyone any good to be rude to them? Attack ads may seem like a good choice but in reality they are annoying and the money could be spent on ads focusing on your credentials. Voters should be told why candidates are qualified for the position, not just why the other candidate isn’t.
I was a conscious, informed voter who could not finish watching the presidential debates because it was not interesting to hear two men fight about who was better than the other instead of what they would do to fix our nation’s problems.
Here’s to more civility in Election 2013 and beyond.
–Linda Otton, Vancouver
