The political season exasperates me like no other.  Words are said publicly that often bristle with malice, hubris and personal attack.  They are generally the very first words we hear when we turn on the morning news.

Could we do this all differently?  Without 24 months of an attempt to tear down another person (who has the courage to run for President) as the way to way to win a nomination?

I’m not an astute political person. And I should be better informed and study everyone in the Presidential race more carefully.  But I try to stay current as much as I can with a complicated and highly populated field of hopefuls on all sides.

This has caused me to consider the importance of the words we speak and how each of us view the problems that exist.

Recently, while with close friends, we happened upon a lovely wine and cheese shop while spending time together on vacation.  After the wine tasting, we settled on a bottle, combined a lunch of bread, cheeses, grapes and chocolate, and became involved in conversation with the vineyard owner whose political views were impacted by her upbringing in another Country.

We listened to her ideas that mirrored a childhood in her native, sometimes-considered “socialistic” country.  We talked with ease, a sense of openness and with no intention to change the mind of anyone.  Not that we could.

But the important thing was that we all listened.  I learned a lot from that lovely woman who makes her home and her living in the beautiful Northeast.  I  agreed with some of what she thought and, although all our beliefs were slightly different, we conversed together.

Each of us came to the table from very different backgrounds – two from the midwest, two from the deep South and one grew up in another country. Our lives had taken us down disparate roads which influenced our personal understandings of the issues. But for a few minutes, our journeys converged into one.

No one “won or lost” that conversation or necessarily changed our minds about anything in particular.    But we all agreed that our World has issues that are hard and are growing more complex all the time; that since the beginning of time, the world has burned with undisputed controversy and somehow we must work together to make it a better place.

Personally, I’d like a future leader whose words and actions encourage open and earnest dialogue that leads to a win/win for us all instead of a win/lose that keep us divided.

So am I too idealistic?  Okay, I have been called so before.  And would I be brave enough to even consider putting myself out there in such a public way?  No way.

But still I wish for a candidate that would arise above the political diatribe, consider that “the Truth” is not held by a single person and be willing to speak with a new voice that actually helps us dialogue and work collectively to take the best of our differences and create a better Country.

Is that dream possible? I have no idea.  But still I remember the words of a great man who once said, “I have a dream.”   Maybe one day.

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