Sentinel Watch March 26, 2012 Issue

What are your politics?

Diane Marrapodi

Originally appeared in The Christian Science Monitor.

As the 2012 election year gets underway in the United States, I’m reminded of a major thought-shift I experienced several years ago. It all started with a confession: I was a political junkie! If a political discourse was going on anywhere, I was tuned in. If a candidate or an elected official was scheduled to give a press conference at 2 pm, I dropped everything to be sure to watch or listen to the broadcast. After all, didn’t I want to be a well-informed citizen? But this approach was very time-consuming—and in fact, it often left me feeling more stirred up than informed.

The day finally came when I recognized that there was a definite line between being a responsible citizen and being drawn into the stir and swirl of 24/7 coverage of political campaigns. I realized that my fascination with politics bordered on obsession.

Investigating Webster’s definition of “politics,” we see a contrast between the lower and higher meaning of the word. A limited sense of politics gets mired in the “competition between competing interest groups or individuals for power and leadership.” The competition for funds, airtime, ideas, volunteers, and votes often takes on a heated tone as the election draws near. Candidates end up misrepresenting themselves or being misrepresented.