Political Ambidexterity: Appreciating the Gray in Between

The fight is on. Whether it’s through vitriol-laced convention speeches or through innuendos and blatant accusations in campaign ads, both sides of the political race focus more on the shortcomings of the opponent than on personal merits.

These past few days –especially since Palin was introduced as the GOP VP choice – well- articulated poisoned arrows have been grazing the skies above.

Both parties have been highly acclaimed and endorsed by their own, and have been heavily criticized by the opponents.

Stating ahead that I am not particularly led by politics, I have to put in my ten cents: where is the candidate who can stand on his or her own merits, without having to dig trash and rely on harvesting votes by mudding the image of their opponent?

As with everything else, we base politics and religion on black and white. If one candidate is good in our eyes, then the other one has to be bad.

Personally, I find the good and bad in both parties, and in both candidates. And it is okay. I respect the traditional values of the GOP, as for some things I am old-school myself. I believe in family unity and in good moral standards. On the other side of the coin, I admire the more embracing views or the Democratic Party, as I feel that if we all have to dance in the same ballroom we might as well learn how to dance together, rather than stepping on each other’s toes.

Ultimately, the main goal is to create an agenda which will benefit the nation, but we seem to have forgotten that, and have turned yet another upcoming election into a paramount soap opera.

Political ambidexterity is truly what we need. We need someone who can lead by the example of his or her own actions, who can embrace pressing issues from all sides and see the gray between black and white. Most of all, we need to stop the childish competition and come together as one nation focused on bringing on changes that can benefit ALL.

One hand cannot do all the work, that’s why we were born with two. And if politically the two hands can shake each other rather than wasting energy in slapping, maybe, just maybe, we can hope to get somewhere.

Of course, just my ten cents.