The Debate...

I was a little bit excited when Adam said he had to work late tonight even though this is usually the night he comes home "early". Why? Because I LOVE politics and my sweet husband hates watching these sort of things and drives me crazy by trying to have a conversation with me during conventions, debates, interviews etc...
I may LOVE politics but I HATE politicians. Does anyone else feel like their disrespect for each other fuel the fire and rather than bring party's together tear them apart even more?
I remember the last presidential race as an ugly 11 months...at least. I taught kindergarten at the time and it's amazing what the kids pick up on. I was able to use their conversation to talk about America and the President. My 5 year old students were arguing about the issues and were telling me things like "McCain is an idiot" or "Obama is bad"...they may be simple statements but really...these kids pick up on everything. One of my favorites was when one student told me her terrific kid bumper sticker was a "sticker telling people to vote for The Rock Obama". I didn't correct her on the name because frankly it was cute and I wanted her to understand that she got the terrific kid sticker because she shows good character. Turns out I should have corrected her because it started my whole class calling him "The Rock". My second favorite was when a little girl told me "My mom voted for McCain because she doesn't like what The Rock Obama is doing with the money"...great job mom for explaining the issues in a way her daughter could understand without belittling the other candidate...she went on to explain "but McCain isn't going to win because only 2 people voted for him" I replied "I voted for him too do that is 3 people...me, your mom, and your dad." she corrected me "my dad didn't vote, so still only 2". Talk about literal.
Anyone enough of the kindergarten cuteness...
My goal was to teach them that both BARACK (I really wanted to nip "The Rock") Obama and John McCain were good, smart men who wanted to do what was best for our country and our people, they just have different ideas on what needs to be fixed and how to do it. I wanted the kids to understand that even if they (their parents) don't agree with the president whoever he may be they need to have respect for them. We talked about character and how each man had children "how would you feel if people hated and were mean to your mom or dad?". In the end I don't know if it stuck but it sure got me thinking about adults. We all need to have respect for the position of the president, we need to show respect to the president, we need to allow our friends to have different opinions, we need to understand that both candidates ate human and neither have ALL the answers.
I feel like my experience teaching about the last election has really opened my eyes to how I acted about my political views and living in China showed me what it was like living in a country where no one really knew how to have their own opinion.
I guess it's true what they say...everything you need to know you learned in kindergarten.