4. We create imaginary enemies.

Us vs. Them. We find a way to vilify the opposition even if at the end of the day, these other people are our neighbors, and not monsters.

And when we have won the day, and we have nobody to share the victory with except our fellow campaign drones, what exactly did we win again?

Nothing, that’s what.

3. We set ourselves up for disappointment.

Believing in a candidate is one thing. Worshipping them is another.

King Tutankhamen had a weird pantheon and a kinky name.

If we pin our hopes and dreams on a candidate, that can never end well. Just ask the guys who thought our President would solve everything back in 2010. They certainly weren’t happy with the results.

2. We forget what really matters.

In the heat of wanting our candidate to win, all we can think of is “our candidate must win at all costs.” We forget why we want our candidate to win in the first place. At some point, we just hunker down, say, “ah, basta,” and keep on keeping on. Because we believe in our candidate so much, we forget what we were fighting for in the first place.

Because odds are, what we really were fighting for, were a set of values, and things we hold dear, and not just a single person, in the first place.

Metaphors are hard, but if your candidate no longer corresponds to your metaphor, then that candidate is no longer your candidate.

1. We forget ourselves.

“Negosyo o kalayaan? Bayan, o sarili,” asked the uber-patriotic and uncompromising Heneral Luna, and here we are asking ourselves the same thing.
But Luna is a certified nutjob, and there is no place for him in the modern day. And thus, we can choose to love our country without forgetting ourselves, without compromising our beliefs, our values, our friends, and those most important to us.

If we elect those we perceive to be the best candidates, but we lose everything that matters along the way, would it all have been worth it?

Probably not.

Got anything else to add? Sound off in the comments!

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