Last week, Saint Louis University became an incubator of political activity.

Two rallies, one for each party, touched down on campus. The first was for Republican Gov. Sarah Palin at the Chaifetz Arena on Oct. 7. Nearly 10,000 people gathered to watch the vice presidential debates and catch a first-person glimpse of Palin and her family, students and St. Louis citizens alike.

The second was a last-minute Obama rally in the amphitheater area behind the Busch Student Center early this week. Approximately 50 people stopped to listen to celebrities Taye Diggs, Aisha Tyler and Idina Menzel promote the importance of voting for Sen. Barack Obama come Nov. 4.

Attendance at these rallies was drastically different, likely due to circumstance. One ran concurrent with a nationally televised event, and the other was a last-minute gathering of nationally televised celebrities.

But the sentiment behind both events was the same: Pick a side. Pick a team. Love your party and put down the other guy.

After all of the political science classes, the Shakespearean tragedies and the interpersonal drama that goes down in college, students are smart enough to know that good decisions are best made rationally.

Usually, students are asked to conquer apathy, especially when it comes to politics. But these rallies remind us that plenty of people have an appetite for politics. The chants, slogans and put-downs remind us that political participation can sometimes border on zealotry. Each side, each party, has hard-core supporters with unified worldviews and lifestyles.

A couple of explanations justify the hearty partisanship of this season’s politics. One is identity. People want to belong to a strong group, an established team. It’s unifying to belong to a side, and as simple as a 50-50 choice. There’s something exhilarating about giving up the responsibility of criticism for the comfort of conformity. In identifying with a party, there’s a clear distinction between “us” and “them,” between “this one” and “that one.” It’s not just Joe Six-Pack against the world, anymore-it’s 175 million Americans against the other 175 million.

Politics also rile up the masses because party lines divide beliefs that people hold dearly and passionately. Real emotion flares up when voters are asked to pick one stranger or another to manage their tax money, legislate their personal lives and determine foreign policy in their stead. Representative politics requires that individuals invest their personal power in the voice of a politician. That means they want to trust the figure they empower.

Inevitably, political debate pares complex problems down to root values. Students, citizens: determine where your values lie. Don’t let yourself descend into red team vs. blue team politics.

Think of politics as a discussion, not a debate. Think of political parties as a coalition of interest groups, not a dogma to be swallowed whole. Examine your values before you pick a side.