“Sometimes I wonder if we shall ever grow up in our politics and say definite things which mean something, or whether we shall always go on using generalities to which everyone can subscribe, and which mean very little."-Eleanor Roosevelt
“Politics isn't about big money or power games; it's about the improvement of people's lives”- Paul Wellstone
As this election cycle is almost over, I've been thinking a lot about politics. The way things are done, and how terrible it is. I know politics are dirty and hard. Winston Churchill said, "In war, you can only be killed once, but in politics, many times." But I don't think it should be so bad. I'm beginning to think that I want to go more into politics than originally planned. Politics as usual has to stop. I want to change politics. The two quotes at the top represent where I am going with this post. I want to point out a few different problem areas that I see with politics.
For starters, as the quote by Eleanor Roosevelt says, when are politicians going to start telling people stuff, anything would be nice. Watch a political campaign commercial, or if you get the things in the mail, for the most part, what do they say????? Nothing. They somehow villanize their opponent, and show why you shouldn't vote for their opponent, but they don't ever say why you should vote for them. Now I am speaking in general terms, I have received things in the mail for certain candidates that say what they believe in or support or what they want to do in office. However for the most part, they really don't say anything. And when the commercials that talk about the opponent, they are terrible. I saw one recently for Bill Randall running for Congressional District 13 in North Carolina. In the commercial it stated that Bill Randall supported tax cuts for business taking jobs overseas. Well the average person is going to get mad at this, who wouldn't. I mean really Bill Randall is giving money to companies that are taking jobs away from Americans!! And most people aren't going to take time, or don't have the time to look this up. In reality, Bill Randall supports lowering the capital gains taxes(North Carolina has the highest capital gains tax in the region) so that business will stay in North Carolina or will come to North Carolina bringing jobs. These ads that attack the opponent do show the people why you might not want to vote for one person, but do not give reasons do vote for the person behind the ad. Here is one I found that briefly touches on what the person behind the ad supports although not very long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QCJdtgluBY&feature=related,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MefZZgBuv8I&feature=channel. A example of a bad ad is this,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JkxTv4SQww. An atheist group donated money to Kay Hagan's campaign and then she was called godless and smeared. How is she responsible for who gives her campaign money? I mean come on, let's be reasonable. Why can't we have ads, that show what the opponent beliefs, without vilifying them, and then state what you believe in. Is that really so difficult????????? I have received in the mail flyer's for certain candidates that clearly outline what they believe in, and what they want to do if voted in. It was so nice to receive it. So next time you watch a political commercial, don't take what is said at face value, stop and think about it, look up what candidates stand for. Because many people don't have time to look information up, politicians know this and so they purposely fill ads with information meant to inflame the voters against their opponent without saying anything about themselves.
As to the second quote. A politician is a public servant, a person takes that job to serve the people, in the state or district or city or country or wherever. That's what it should be anyway. It seems that now we have to many politicians who are in for other reasons. I guess for the power since it can't be the money. So now there are politicians who are in for power, to keep said power they have to consistently be re-elected. How do you do that, make campaign ads that don't say anything, and lie to the people to get them to re-elect you. And again, the average person doesn't have the time to look up stuff, so politicians slip through. It seems that more and more politicians are looking out for their own interests instead of the people they represent. Now in general I don't think people looking out for their own interest is a bad thing, it creates competition. But when the citizens vote for a person to serve their best interests, it's wrong for that person not to. A politician is someone who is to serve the public, not further their own interests.
Now as to a few tangents. On Saturday my family went out to do early voting. And what I saw really irritated me. There were a million yard signs, and a million people out handing out flyer's and trying to talk to people. Do people really think that by putting out signs that people vote for politicians, is this a game of name recognition? That is hardly fair, if so it comes down to who has the most money and can buy the most signs. I knew walking into the polling place who I was voting for, so I wasn't about to stop and talk to anybody, besides the fact that I have serious doubts that if those people would have liked my opinion anyway. The rule is that people can't do that within like 70 feet of something of the polling place, and there was a sign that said so. And of course all these people where right next to the sign, I don't think they should be allowed there at all. When we walked up we were surrounded by people. Voting is a personal decision, one that you can share if you want to, and I don't think people should be allowed outside to try to persuade you. When you go to vote, you either know who you will be voting for, you are voting straight ticket, or you will make up your mind when you get in there so I understand why the people where there. But it shouldn't be allowed or again it comes down to the campaign that can send out the most people. On our way back out, my mom and me went another way to avoid the mass of people. Then this lady thanked us for voting. I wonder if she would thank me if she knew how I was going to vote. I shouldn't be thanked for voting, it's my job. I don't get thanked for showing up to work on time, I'm expected to be there. The same for voting, I take voting very seriously. As a citizen of this country voting and being informed is part of my job.
Being a politician is a public servant job, and being a politician, one should put the interests of the people before personal gains. We also need to have less negativity, more positive, and politicians that actually tell people what they believe in, what they supported. People in general should never be afraid to stand by what they believe in. We need to stop pork barrel spending and wasting taxpayer money. We need to have less government to have more personal liberty. We need to have politicians who speak about real issues and don't give none answer answers. We need honesty and transparency in Washington. And what we need the most are informed citizens and voters. Without these changes, we can never hope for anything to change and improve.
Think about the people you are voting for, make time to be informed and get out and vote.
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