Monday, January 18, 2010

Think For Yourself...

Here in Massachusetts we are getting ready to hold a "special election" to fill the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy. I will be happy to see Wednesday January 20th arrive. All the signs, and ads on the radio and TV are just a little too annoying.

I like to think of myself as someone who makes an informed decision. But it's very difficult to see through all the mud slinging. It's hard to tell who is lying or exaggerating. The ads could not be more contradictory in this election. It's ridiculous.

Part of the problem is that half of the ads are making accusations about their opponent while the other half of the ads are saying that their opponent's ads are lies or exaggerations. The only issue that they are clear about is whether or not they will vote to pass the new pending health care bill. Or I should say the new "Insurance Reform" bill which really has very little to do with "health care."

I am a little concerned about the mentality of the voters here when I listen to the Talk Radio shows. People call in and say, "I believe we should be out of Afghanistan." Or, "I think the new insurance reform is a bad idea." Or weigh in on a number of other topics, but then when the host asks them who they will be voting for on January 19th, more often than not, the caller will say they are voting for the candidate who is not in alignment with their thinking! What are they thinking about? How are they coming to these decisions?

And another problem is that the Independent candidate is too poor to run competing ads (which in a way is good, because I don't think I could handle any more). But he is also being written off by the media. Occasionally they do mention that there is "another guy" running. That is about the extent of his campaign.

The poor Independent candidate probably feels like Carson Daly in the NBC late night talk show "scandal." They are both casualties of war.

Some of the callers who sound like they have done some research, say that they like the "other guy's" politics, but they think that voting for him would be throwing away their vote.

Now that makes me a little crazy. If everybody who thought that voted for this guy... well maybe he still wouldn't win. But it might be enough of a dent to show lack of confidence in the other two candidates. Who knows, in the next election... a third party candidate might even win!

The important thing is not to vote for someone because of their party affiliation or even because they agree with one "special interest issue." We should try to learn as much as we can about them so that we know that they will make the right choices for the people of our state and our country.

There will always be "hot" topic issues (pro life, pro choice, gun laws, involvement in wars, etc.) but we can't base our decision on just one issue. We need to know that our Congressmen and Senators can make decisions that are good for everyone, not just for people in unions or people with money or whoever else the lobbyists tell them to favor.

You have to wonder what our Founding Fathers would think about the state of our politics today. These were people who took great pains in writing things in our Constitution that were not popular, but were for the benefit of everyone.

The media is saying that there will be a very low turnout for this election. Lower than the national election last November? Wow.

How embarrassing is it for us as a nation that we are more likely to vote someone "off the island" or vote for our favorite American Idol, or some dancer on one of the other TV shows, than to vote for our next President, Senator or even our local politicians?!

I would love to know the numbers on that statistic.... Is it true that more people have voted for some TV Show Pop Icon than have voted in elections that effect our country (and the rest of the world)?

One of the decisions that will most certainly be effected by this election is the fate of the "health care" bill. One of the candidates promises to be the passing vote and the other two promise to be the 41st vote to reject it.

Well I have a solution for the whole "health care" issue! I think that they should just scrap the whole bill that is pending right now. What they should do... is pass a bill that gives us the same exact "health care" benefits as the people in the Congress and Senate. Any politician that denies us that should be voted out of office. Hey, we are paying for their health care... why shouldn't we be paying for our own, too?

Do us all a favor... find out everything you can about all three candidates. Then go to the polls and vote. I don't care who you vote for, as long as you vote for the one that you truly think will best represent us all.

Don't just listen to the sound bites... Think For Yourself.

Peace and Love,
-------Nick



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