As a Yankees fan, I do not like the Red Sox. I do not like Red Sox fans and at times I do not like the entire City of Boston.

Why?

The Red Sox and their fans have never done anything to me. As a matter of fact I like the City of Boston. But nonetheless, I find myself watching the Red Sox play baseball games and hoping beyond hope that they will lose. Not just lose but lose bad.

This is what being a sports fan is all about, loving your team and hating the rival.

Recently though, I find myself seeing people rooting for Barack Obama and others rooting for John McCain in the same manner as Red Sox and Yankees fans.

We have people divided into two camps.

I love McCain!

I love Obama!

Sure there are a few people who don't like either man. And I'm sure there are people who like both. However, I get the distinct feeling that that the two camps are drawn out and have very clear battle-lines.

This kind of fighting is good for baseball in fact a strong rivalry is good for just about every sport, but I don't think this is a good thing for politics.

Perhaps I am naïve, but I think we should be more civil when discussing politics.

John McCain is an honorable American who served his country as a Naval Airman and has since served his country in the US Senate; he would make a great president.

Barack Obama is an honorable American who rose up on his own and achieved the American Dream, making his way through Harvard returning to his community and becoming a US Senator. He too would make a great president.

I'm sure people will not agree with both of those statements, however, these are two good men who I think deep in their hearts want the best for this country.

We (not those of us on TV, but regular voters) need to sit down and talk about candidates and issues. It's not always fun, but it is important.

When we divide ourselves into Republican and Democratic camps we lose what we need to have and that is a middle ground and a true discussion of the issues and the candidates.

Being a die-hard Red Sox or Yankees fan is fine, but when we are die-hard Democrats or Republicans we miss out on the true legacy of the founding fathers and that is that we are the "people" and we are smart enough to elect people on issues and not a "D" or "R" next to their names.