The longer we go on with this political season, the more I wonder about the American people. Are there people out there that hate Obama so much they will vote for anyone but him as a protest vote? Is the disgust of him by some folks so great they will believe anything negative said about him, even if it sounds like it was ripped from the Weekly World News?

Before I go on, let's get the obvious issue out of the way. This isn't a racially baited question. We could go down that road but what is the point? Let me just illustrate how that discussion would go. I would say some people hate Obama because he's black. The ones that have problems with him because he's black won't admit it and would try to come up with some lazy attempt at an equivalence test, such as why to you people have the NAACP. Those that claim to dislike Obama because of policy issues will stick to those guns even if it ca be proven folks on their side had the same policies. They will then fall back to the You Did the Same Thing to Bush defense and once the birther question is brought up racism will be claimed. So, race is not a factor in this article.

Now that we have that out of the way, what is the problem with Obama? Oh, one more thing, please don't give me that he's a liberal or Democrat. There have been many Democrats from Clinton to Carter and on down the line that people have had disagreements with. There is something else going on making this President so despised.

I'm going to use my friend as an example. She voted for the first time in a long time in 2008 and she voted for Obama. She didn't like McCain and the direction the Republican Party was going. She didn't like their policy on health care and she was going through some trying medical issues at the time. She was dealing with issues at her job as far as pay. Prices for gas and food were high for her considering her salary. She was like millions of people who trended towards hating all politicians but she felt with Obama he was a much better choice that McCain, so much so that she decided it was time to actually participate in the election process and vote for the first time in many years.

In the span of four years she now dislikes Obama to an extreme I find disturbing. She has bought into the whole birther issue. She's one of the people who believes his birth certificate is a fake, though if you ask her why this would be done or how it would be done she hasn't a clue. She hates the Affordable Care Mandate even though she has to use it for her medical care. She's being helped by the program but hates the program because Obama created it. She has suspicions about government in general and puts the blame not with Congress, not with lobbyist but with Obama. Even things that are the results of years of neglect are placed at the feet of Obama.

While I have heard many people on radio shows and talk shows, either from callers or guests, it's disconcerting to hear that talk from someone in front of you. It's especially hard when it's someone you have known for a long time. Not to be cruel but it's hard to have a rational discussion with someone who has a deep rooted dislike for the President because we are working from two sets of facts. Both sides can look at the same facts and will come up with different conclusions.

Another issue that comes up in these heated debates is the 'we must have an equal comparison' debate. Again, people are presented with the same set of facts but the interpretation are vastly different. Let's dip into the birther waters just a bit. No matter what evidence is given, there will be people who refuse to accept Obama is an American born in Hawaii. Some people take their cues from wacky talking heads and the wacky talking heads have their own axes to grind. No amount of paperwork, testimonials or other bits of information will convince them Obama is an American, despite any evidence. If they have to give an excuse for their actions they will offer that Obama wasn't properly vetted by the press.

Every other Presidential candidate, including Obama, has offered multiple years of tax returns. The only candidate that didn't was John McCain, who offered two full years. Romney has offered one year and an estimate of another year. He has refused numerous requests to show his tax returns. In the records that have been presented, we have seen that Romney has paid a percentage half of what most working Americans pay, he has money in offshore accounts and how in the world do you take a $75000 deduction for a horse? The people who discount every bit of evidence in the validity of Obama's citizenship have no curiosity in the tax returns of someone who had stated that his goal is to lower the taxes of all Americans including those who are wealthy. That doesn't merit any discussion about his own taxes?

There are many more examples of candidates misguiding the public on policies and distorting the views of opponents yet when those are pointed out they claim it doesn't matter because the enemy is Obama. What used to be a spirited discussion during the election season has become an all out verbal war. The goal is not just to win but to destroy and decimate the enemy at all cost. My friend will be hurt drastically by the cuts Republicans have proposed, she has some inclination, when I have been able to discuss it with her, about the draconian laws against women being proposed by Republican led legislations, but her hate for Obama is greater than her own self interest. There is no rational way to have a discussion.

While I would love to think all will be settled around 90 days when we go and vote, my prediction is there are going to be too many people who won't vote and the real measure of the results won't be from the top of the ticket but from the state and local elections. I have a feeling once the votes are counted the war will begin anew no matter the outcome.