This is Floyd Wynne with THE VIEW FROM HERE (10-21-04)

What kind of a democracy?

America is dedicated to spreading democracy to other nations around the world. We take pride in the fact that ten million people in Afghanistan registered and most of them voted in their presidential election.

We also are at war in Iraq with the avowed aim of installing a democratic form of government in that country.

But what of our democracy?

I think that one must divide our democracy into several parts to better understand it.

First, and foremost, we do have a Constitution that is designed to protect the individual rights of all of our citizens. Admittedly this Constitution gets twisted at times in our courts....but the Supreme Court generally falls back on strict interpretation of that Constitution.

Secondly we have the political process. Today we see an election that is probably the meanest, dirtiest in our history. The word “hate” is thrown freely by politicians. The campaign is already almost a year long and the nation has been bitterly divided.

Politicians promise and promise and the public must evaluate what is truth what is fiction and cast their ballots accordingly.

Then there is the question of actually casting ballots. Already an army of lawyers have been dispatched to key states around the nation to make certain that the voting is all legal. There are a number of types of voting....various machine types....and then, as here in Oregon, we vote by mail.

There is talk of fraud in many areas...and undoubtedly regardless of the result of the election....there will be extended cries of fraud, cheating...with court challenges abounding.

And...if that isn’t enough.....we have the twenty four hour television news that has to dredge up pros and cons every several hours....constantly telling us about poll after poll, and as of today telling us that it could end up in a statistical tie vote in the electoral college which would throw the issue back in the lap of Congress.

Is it any wonder that I ask....what kind of democracy do we want?

Up until the early 1900s the candidates for President didn’t campaign....they stayed home...made a few speeches...and their supporters did the campaigning.

Today is a far cry from those days.

Undoubtedly people of other countries must look at the current campaign and question whether or not they really want this kind of a democracy.

There is one saving grace in our system, however, regardless of its apparent failings......That is that those Americans who are eligible to vote.....and who register.......can cast an individual vote of their own choosing.

That enhances the individual rights which we brag about.

So....with all the cacophony and word twisting getting louder and louder...we head down the stretch to November 2nd when we will select our national leader for the next four years.

This is Floyd Wynne and that’s THE VIEW FROM HERE.