At the end of the semester, it’s traditional to look back and talk about the big issues. Instead of recapping what’s already been discussed between Mac and me, I think a breakdown of the overarching trend in American politics is in order.

The national discussion is getting more and more polarized. The approval ratings of the president have dropped quite a bit over the last half of a year. The ratings have significantly dropped on Medicare, domestic spending, overall approval and whether he’d be elected over an unnamed Democratic candidate. President Bush is on shaky ground.

More telling are poll results that show that Democratic approval ratings of Bush are astonishingly low and Republican satisfaction incredibly high. While this doesn’t sound completely out of this world, it’s further to the extreme than most recent presidents have seen.

Where has the national discussion on politics gone? It’s migrated to the edges of the debate, with cultural issues like gay marriage and flashpoints like Iraq animating the opposite ends of the political spectrum.

Liberals have a grassroots swell unseen in the Gore election of 2000. There isn’t much like being out of power to get the political activism going.

Conservatives have rallied around a number of cultural issues and terrorism as their focal points. The lines have been drawn and the knives are out.

Recently a Republican strategist noted that America used to be a 40-40-20 nation. That’s a country split 40-40 Democrat / Republican with a 20 percent “swing voter” enigma. Now, the strategist notes, the split is closer to 45-45-10, and both Democrats and Republicans are ignoring the wishy-washy 10 percenters and shoring up their base.

Is this good for our nation? Good for politics?

Many don’t think it is. An opinion piece in The Guardian, a United Kingdom newspaper, notes that a divided America shouting at itself from opposite corners of the ring is less likely to engage in reasoned debate. That’s a true sentiment, but a little hollow coming from a nation whose Parliamentary debates look like Ultimate Political Fighting.

I’m of two minds about the current shrillness in American politics.

One, as the bumper sticker says, is that if you aren’t mad, you aren’t paying attention. The other is that too much yelling turns people off from the political process.

I’ll admit that Mac’s and my columns play up the confrontational nature of American politics. We enjoy scoring points off each other and stating our opinions in as forceful a manner as possible. Is it making it harder for people to get involved? Does our banter make people sick of the whole political process?

I don’t think so. I think that you have to be willing to engage in this debate wholeheartedly, ready to defend your beliefs and ready to face defeat, but hope the power of your ideas will carry the day.

The two-party system in America makes for a “winner-take-all” attitude in politics that makes people who are less confrontational more uncomfortable. The debate about America and its future shouldn’t be one that is taken lightly. Who we elect as our leaders really has a significant impact on our lives, and I, for one, refuse to let that choice pass me by without a fight.

The biggest threat in American politics is the promise of no pain all gain. Too many politicians are willing to tell you that you can have your cake and eat it too. There is no way a responsible candidate for any office should tell you that you could run a marathon with no training. The promise of a future with robust social services, a strong military and a growing economy but no bill is an illusion.

Unfortunately, this illusion is being sold to us as a solid bill of goods as we speak. Republicans in this country believe that they can pass a $400 billion military appropriations bill (the largest in American history) with no tax increase. Republicans believe they can pass a $400 billion Medicare bill with no tax increase. Republicans want to give you cake and tell you there’s no fat, no exercise to remove the excess pounds.

This is all a lie, and the American people are waking up. We can’t have security, social services or anything that the “compassionate conservative” in charge promises us without paying for it. However, Bush has not only removed the ability for the government to pay for it now (by cutting taxes to his rich cronies), but he doesn’t care a whit about who will have to pay for it in the future.

We are the future of America. We are being handed the tab to a war we don’t want, to a Medicare scheme that will never help us and to a future robbed of its promise.

This is why voters are going to the edges. This is why the political discussion is getting more and more desperate. It’s really getting that bad.

Liberals like myself don’t see any choice but getting motivated, putting our voices out there and trying to make a difference.

If we don’t, misguided individuals who spend like drunken sailors but don’t want to pick up the check, warmongers with little insight to history or international relations and cultural polarizers out to alienate non-Christians, gays and immigrants will dominate our national scene.

There are a whole lot of people unwilling to let this go by on our watch. Let’s get busy.

Rob Deters ([email protected]) is a second-year law student.