It has become political campaigning 2006 style. Line items on million page bills are being scrutinized on tv ads; half truths bordering on libel are being blasted on the radio. Politicians are counting on sound bite reactionary voting more than usual in this year’s campaign instead of sticking to issues and selling their particular take on whatever subjects they cover. This is nothing new, but the issue seems more critical than ever.
Fewer people read their news these days, and when they do it is in “soundbite” dribs from the internet. Newspaper sales are at an all time low and tv news is so factionally divided, one can predict polling numbers from viewship stats. The proliferation of entertainment commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly and large conservative talk radio empires, like Clear Channel take politicing to a new low level.
One has to wonder what these changes are doing to the basics of democracy. As Arizona lures uneducated voters with the possibility of winning the electoral $1,000,000 lottery, we can only expect our politicians to stoop to new lows to pull in electorate votes.
As a warning to all those politicians who think that they can lure me in by showing how their long established opponent hates children, the working poor, and thinks that our troops need neither reinforced tanks or body armor, know that we see through your guise. All we have to do is look at the polls to see WHY you are sinking to these levels.
As Alan K. Simpson, former republican Senator explained, “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”
I will vote for the ones who matter.
