By Bennett Fuson
<[email protected]>

It’s over!

For those uninterested in politics, take a quick moment to breathe a sigh of relief. No longer will you have to listen to endless sound bytes of Barack Obama promising change or John McCain preaching reform. No longer will you have to worry yourselves with who’s leading who in polling results, or who stopped where in the Lower 48 to make a stump speech.

No, my friends, you will not have to worry about any of these things. Instead, you get to worry about the future of our country!

As I write this, there are 10 days left in the election. It was hard to watch the news for more than 30 seconds without seeing Obama’s or McCain’s face at least once. (I haven’t been able to since Oct. 18^th .) As a fan of politics, I can’t complain: this was like the playoffs for me and my like-minded peers.

But as I continue to watch the news, in between clips of stump speeches and hand-shaking, I can’t help but notice that we are in an increasingly desperate position. The DOW Industrial can’t stay up for very long without falling down, pushing over other world markets as it tumbles.

And that’s not the end of it all. Our health-care and education systems are slowly but surely bottoming out (but gaining momentum), our foreign relations are starting to turn on us, and domestically, we can’t agree on how to fix anything, let alone everything.

Big shoes to fill, right?

This is the country that either Barack Obama or John McCain could face. And, while you are reading this, one of them is getting ready for that very challenge. But here’s the million-dollar question: Can they handle it?

Better yet, can we handle it?

This country was not built by one man, nor has it ever been saved solely by one man, either. Rather, it has been the grit and determination of the population as a whole to grin and bear the burden. During the Great Depression, one of the lowest point of this country’s history, President Franklin Roosevelt didn’t just shoulder the weight of the financial crisis himself. He and his Congress embarked on a drastic overhaul of policy, but his actions were for naught until they were carried out by the American people. As a result of the determination for a better country, we as a people strove toward perfection with daring speed.

Do we have what it takes to do that again? I think so, although I don’t know if we necessarily want to have what it takes. Both candidates make appealing arguments for reform, but talk is cheap if it isn’t followed up with action. Today’s society is not quite as gung-ho on national unity as it was 75 years ago. (National unity, it turns out, doesn’t help purchase the new iPhone). Correct me if I’m wrong, but I really can’t see any students here bending over backwards to aid in a community service project to further our economy.

Here’s the thing that, if for nothing else, you should take away from this: no matter who won on Tuesday, we as a country need to be as determined to bring about change as our candidates. Otherwise, it’s over for the nation as we know it. Bennett Fuson is an entertainment editor for the HiLite. Contact him at [email protected].