The election season is upon us, and comparisons of candidates abound in the newspaper. Paid political advertisements will soon be repeated endlessly on television, the mud flying from here to there in an attempt to denigrate the opponent. This year we’ve had the addition of “robocalls” from candidates, who somehow believe that if they annoy us enough, we’ll vote for them.
But let’s be honest. Most of us have found a fool-proof way of determining who we will cast our vote for, regardless of the character of the man or woman running for office or how outrageous their stand is on an issue. We simply look for the “D” and the “R” after a candidate’s name to tell us what we think.
We don’t need to waste time researching a stand or voting record that way, and we know immediately which bumper sticker to put on our cars and SUVs. Some voters justify this by saying that they vote for their party rather than the candidate, but men like Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson are currently spinning in their graves over the directions of their beloved parties. If you are one of the “D” and the “R” voters, you won’t know that, though, since knowledge isn’t your strong suit.
“Not me,” you’re saying? Test the premise, then. Try to read political articles without attaching to the party affiliation, and then THINK about the message. Do you agree with “your” candidate, or are you merely blindly following the letter designation? Do you have questions about the candidate’s stand? Are you willing to work to find the answers, not just accept the platitudes and empty slogans repeated endlessly? We don’t have to register as Independents, but it would be nice if we at least thought independently.
Go ahead. Give it a whirl. Our democracy is in trouble, and it’s going to take some intellectual effort to get us back on track.