I was going to write this tirade on the ludicracy of our political campaign and voting system, but I think this pretty much sums it up.
I have never spent as much time researching candidates and their platforms as I did this time. Sadly, I didn't feel any more prepared to vote than if I had just walked into this election blindly. OK...that might be a slight exageration. I was certain on my choice for governor and a few of the state and national representatives, but that's about it.
As I stood at the voting machine yesterday, I was horrified to realize that I have no idea what most of the state and local positions do. What the heck does the Agricultural Commissioner do? Or the County Commissioner? I don't know, and if I don't even know what they do, how can I be qualified to vote for them? I decided I'm not, so I passed over those positions.
Here-in lies part of the problem. Most people don't have a clue what their elected officials do beyond the highest levels of leadership (i.e. Governor, Congressperson, etc), but they cast a vote for these positions anyway. Is that smart? I don't think so. How can you possibly be selecting the person who is best for the job if you don't know what the job does in the first place?
The other part of the problem is people don't think about why their opinion is what it is. They have no substantially arguable basis for how they believe the government should be run or why they agree or disagree with certain social issues. So many people just tow the party line, drink the proverbial kool-aid. Most people in the US identify with a certain political party based on factors like religion, race, etc., but they never stop to wonder if that party's opinions are truly their own opinions. It scares me to realize how little people in this country actually think about the reasons why they vote the way they do. If they did, our political system would be very different, and the monsters the Republican and Democratic parties have become would quickly die out.
Hmmm...I guess I did write that tirade after all.
Comments (2)
Down with Democracy! Actually I agree, what's even more frustrating to me is the lack of information on these candidates, in what should be the information age. Looking up their web-sites only gets you so far, and even then you have to constantly be reading in between the lines.
Additionally I used to be a die hard republican because I believe in the original republican ideals, but the way republicans have been voting recently makes many of them no longer republicans in my book.
The new bleeding heart moderate.
On a side note, will the colbert report and daily show flop to the right now that the leadership has had a stark change to the left? Only time will tell.
Posted by Dave. | November 8, 2006 1:22 PM
Posted on November 8, 2006 13:22
I actually have thought about my deep personal opinions about politics, political parties, the balance of power, etc. I never vote a straight party line either - I voted for a republican candidate for one of the judge positions yesterday because, quite frankly, I didn't feel the Dem was qualified enough. My ballot wasn't even close to straight party ticket. I spent three hours researching contested ballots and making decisions.
As far as the ag comissioner thing is concerned, both candidates had issue stances on their website, and there was a big issue this year that I felt strongly about, so it wasn't a hard decision.
I'd like to think most people treat elections like I do, but then again, if I was rich, I'd probably run for office for something. My grandparents have been trying to convince me to for awhile now.. and they're conservative. But they like the way I reason things through I guess.
That ballot was monstrously huge though.
Posted by kelly | November 8, 2006 2:01 PM
Posted on November 8, 2006 14:01