Wei Hongxia is now a visiting scholar with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

When I first arrived in Washington D.C. last year, a friend of mine who is a sport fan and has lived here for 20 years told me of his understanding of American culture and how it compared to competitive sports. In his opinion, American sports are basically games that rely on teamwork, such as baseball, basketball and American football. The spirit of striving for victory can be seen in every team member, regardless of how good he or she is. A spectator has a firm belief in his or her team's winning potential. It is very rare for sports fans to support only one team, so these games are usually quite fun to watch.

Regrettably, I have not yet had the opportunity to go to one of these games and experience the competitiveness of American sports firsthand. However, I have been able to immerse myself in the ambiance of the presidential race, and the competitive spirit pouring out from newspapers, television, advertisements and conversations is quite palpable.

Although the presidential election is a very serious matter, in truth it is more like a complex political game. After months of warm-up, the Republican and Democratic Parties announced their candidates at recent political conventions. Although I was unable to attend either event in person, I managed to watch both on TV and imagined how this compared to a Super Bowl or World Series match-up.

An American friend told me that both parties would ramp up the spending; TV stations don't provide live broadcasts of party conventions for free! This homestretch to the presidential elections in November is why both parties have been raising so much money. These candidates must go to the American public and explain why they are better and more able than their opponents, and are capable of leading the US down a path to a more prosperous capitalist society.

But there are just two ways to play this game: boasting and attacking your opponents.

The Republican candidate Mitt Romney's wife revealed many unknown stories of her husband, showing off their marital love and family happiness. Romney's old neighbors and friends emotionally told stories, illustrating Romney as a nice, loving man. Romney's staff described him as a daring, charismatic leader.

The wife of Democratic candidate Barack Obama explained how her love for her husband has grown over the years, as well as his responsibilities to the family, drawing tears from older female listeners. Democratic members of Congress took the stage one-by-one to endorse the President and inspire peoples' belief and trust. Female members, led by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, took to the stage as a single group, and this eye-pleasing scene added weight to Obama's candidacy among female voters.

Bragging is a way of eliciting emotions. But, to be honest, I have never seen American people publicly praise their leader in such an emotional, goose bump-causing manner during my career committed to American studies and following American presidential elections.

Although the candidates are quick to praise themselves and their many accomplishments, they are very good at remembering to save time to attack their political adversaries. In order to do this, emotions are put aside and evidence plays a more central role. Candidates often dig out and exaggerate long-forgotten transgressions of their opponents to blacken their character. They also locate their opponents' weak spots by highlighting discrepancies between their opponents' policies and the public's expectations. In order to win the election, candidates must show how they are improving themselves after they have been shown to be imperfect.

Despite the media's fixation on fervent speakers and a cheering public these past two weeks, in truth the on-the-ground reality has not been that exciting. If you asked several of your friends to sit down and have a discussion about the election, one of them would probably tell you not to take it seriously; it's just a game.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/weihongxia.htm

(This post was written in Chinese and translated by Pang Li)

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