2008 presidential race
In today’s fast paced society with many ways to communicate instantly, it seems that the most important political issue changes all the time. Many would suggest that this is due to the media who can basically tell the American people what they think is important or what they believe. With our country going through such a tough time, the top political issues are almost expected to change because there is not just one issue that the country is worried about. The political issues of today are important problems that we need our elected officials to start taking more seriously. Photo opportunities and sound bites do not matter, action and progress is what the American people need right now.
• During most of the 2008 presidential race, the economy was the top priority to most Americans. Our economy was in a recession. The worst one since the great depression. Then democratic nominee Barack Obama proposed regulation of the markets in order to stop big bankers from taking the risks that they were taking with other people’s money. Meanwhile John McCain claimed that the essential elements of our economy were strong right before some of the biggest banks in the world declared they were bankrupt. The economic political issue was sure to continue because economic problems cannot be solved over night. Any type of suggested solution would take many months or possibly years in order to fix our current problem. Until the economy starts growing by restoring consumer confidence and making it possible for the banks to start lending again, this will remain among the top political issues.
• For most of 2009, the number one political issue was health care reform. Every news channel featured debates on the topic and spoke to what they thought was the best way to get reform passed or blocked. Democrats tried vigorously to get reform passed while republicans did everything in their power to stop any bill from getting to President Obama’s desk. The problem is that republicans see health care reform as a political issue while the majority of the country sees it as a top American priority. Last week, a health insurance company in California announced that it would raise their member’s premiums by almost forty percent. That is just one example of why conservatives need to join the debate and make progress so that citizens of this great country can afford good quality health care.
• Since the election of republican senator Scott Brown in Massachusetts, conservatives tried to
translate his victory as a message that the American people do not want health care reform. As if to say that all of the Americans who do not have health insurance because they can’t afford it and all the families that have gone bankrupt due to outrageous medical bills suddenly do not care about health care reform anymore. So once again the top political issue changed to job creation. Creating more jobs has always been a priority but now it is the top priority of the current administration. President Barack Obama is urging congress to act quickly on getting a jobs bill on his desk as soon as possible. However, once again the republican party is making this a political issue instead of a important priority by rejecting the democrats methods to create jobs.
The problems that the House and Senate are trying to solve are issues that directly affect the American people. Instead of treating them as such, politicians have made them political issues in order to gain political points. Political issues are constantly changing because as soon as an elected official realizes that the matter is effecting him or her in a negative way, they will move on to a different topic.