As much as I try to remove myself from all things political, the media machine keeps dragging me back in. It tells me why this candidate has bad breath and why this one only wears one sock. I get to hear what this one would have done or what this one is going to do and it all makes me think on high school elections.'I promise I will do my best to get a snack machine in every hall and to make school end at 2:30'
We all know that they have no power to do that regardless of the desire.
So how do I choose what person to vote for? Do I vote for the guy who most mirrors my ethics and values or do I vote for the guy who I think will manage the resources of our nation best? Does it matter if they are black or a female or mormon or 37 years old?
I think so many times we get caught up on non-issues or issues that the President of the United States of America can never possibly touch
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Forgive the length, but . . .
When roving reporters ask the Johns and Janes on the street for whom they will vote and why, the why leaves me thinking that we are not thinking. Responses include: it would be nice/unimaginable to have a woman in the White House; it would be nice/unimaginable to have a man of color in the White House; . . . a conservative Christian; . . . a moral Mormon;. . . a business man; . . . a vet; . . . a presidential actor; you get the idea. A woman's group is furious about Kennedy's endorsement of Obama as if a vote against Clinton is a vote against all women. So, if I have this straight, women are to vote for Clinton, people of color for Obama, conservative Christians for Huckabee, and so on. Yes, it feels like we're voting for the favorite in our elite cliques.
What ARE we voting for here? What about concerns that face our country and how the candidates propose to address them? What about choosing a candidate because their views on the issues that matter to you align with yours?
I know this wouldn’t be possible, but hypothetically, I wonder what kind of president we’d get if the election campaign was in text only. No video images, photographs, posters, or even names (candidates A, B, C, etc.). Candidates would have to address the issues solely in text format and the voters couldn’t get as sidetracked with gender, race, religion, and petty matters. This would be close to what elections were like early in our nation’s history. Is that why we had more great leaders then than we do now? I’m sure that is a much too simplistic theory, but I’m sure it played a part.
Since the above is not possible, I propose a second option. All voters must complete at least one (preferably 3 for accuracy) multiple choice survey(s). The questions would include issues on the budget/deficit/economy, immigration, war/Iraq, health care, trade, education, abortion, etc. Your vote would then be cast based on your answers to the questions. Some would view this as a restriction on their freedom and rights as Americans in a democratic society, but it would be quite objective and cleans out much of the subjective clutter. If you’d like a little more freedom of choice, it could give you the top 3 that align with your views and a ranking of the issues in order of importance as they are to the candidates. Some would argue against a computer doing our thinking for us. As I said earlier, it doesn’t sound like many of us are thinking anyway so that’s a wash.
How did I come up with this plan? Already having someone in mind, I took 2 of these surveys myself. I took the second one because I thought the first one may have been rigged. The surveys asked 2 completely different sets of questions, though some issues overlapped while others didn’t. Both surveys suggested the same candidate which was not the one I originally had in mind. I was quite surprised. I learned something about myself that day, I hadn't been thinking.
Since then I have not decided whether or not to do what a computer has told me to do. I have decided to vote for a president for our country; not for a suffragette, a racial leader, a religious leader, a business leader, nor a war leader.
I'm not ready to get in a political debate with anyone; I've just heard too many lame reasons for choosing a candidate that I had to say something.
thanks katweb! an all text election would be interesting.
"What Obama is black?!? who knew?"
do you have a link for the surveys you mentioned?
Far be it from me to presume to be a good judge of presidential surveys. I don't remember which ones I took, but I do know they were detailed, extensive, inclusive, and took a bit of time. I suggest searching "presidential candidate survey." There are quite a few out there including some 10-20 question "quickies."
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