Political Campaign Shortcomings

Political campaigns are rigged to make it easy to elect the wrong candidates.  They are packed with emotion, encourage being herded and operate with an extremely uninformed electorate.  The Fox News segment on the O’Reilly Factor called “Water’s World” where Jesse Waters asks people on the street to name the Vice President gives you some idea how uninformed voters really are.

The reason for having a secret ballot is to avoid peer pressure from those closest to you including relatives, friends, co-workers, neighbors and others who might be voting to oppose what you support.  Politics is divided into Parties and within these Parties are sub-groups who share similar views on some issues but differ on other issues.  The question of picking a candidate to support depends on how much you think the candidate will do to support your opinions on your highest priority issues.

The use of “yard signs” brings candidate choice into neighborhoods and should stimulate discussions, but it often doesn’t. 

The use of websites is a new and useful tool for letting the voters know where candidates stand on the issues and should contain a full resume and voting record, but it is often a bland portal to raise money where controversial issues are not mentioned. I would like to see elected officials and candidates post their own polls to find out what voters want and what their priorities are.

Candidate forums, debates and town hall meeting should give candidates the opportunity to share the priorities they believe are needed, but these also fail.  Questions are often shallow and answers are calculated.  I call this the “straightjacket dance”.  Voter responses to candidates are also shallow.  Reasons voters give for supporting a candidate are often based on their poor judgement.  Political campaigns have been designed for slick sales guys who say as little as possible.  They get elected because people like their looks or because the candidate spoke with them.  Voters this dumb have taken a wrecking-ball to our Republic.

Co-workers can gang up on you and ostracize you from the group.  Union organizing drives divides the workforce in half almost instantly.  Union elections are political campaigns. 

My view of candidates may not be typical, but I first look at the job the candidate is running for and determine what I believe are the right priorities.  For city council or county commission positions, I think the highest priorities should be the physical infrastructure that costs the most to maintain, like water, sewers, roads, highways, bridges and vital records like accurate property records.  I view government like a utility.

If candidates say Police, Fire or EMT is their first priority, I don’t vote for them.  That’s an emotional answer that tells voters the candidate is “concerned for their safety”.  But the Police, Fire and EMT can’t ensure our safety.  Police catch criminals, Fire Fighters put out fires and EM Techs take over the CPR someone in your house already started.  The voters themselves are responsible for their own safety. 

I am equally unsympathetic with School Boards. The children are themselves responsible for their own education. I look at outcomes and criticize overspending. “But it’s for the children” doesn’t get me voting for every SPOST.  I am equally unsympathetic about the animals; I think they can take care of themselves.

I would limit government funded parks and recreation and let the churches, subdivision clubs and private sector facilities do at least half of these playing fields, tennis courts and playgrounds. 

I would not use tax dollars for “economic development” or give tax abatements in metro areas or for any public transit trains or buses.  I would leave this to the private sector.

I don’t like government borrowing or selling Bonds.  Bonds are like mortgages and make everything cost double.  I prefer accrual accounts where governments deposit funds to accumulate money that will be needed for scheduled maintenance of critical infrastructure.

The real job is to maintain the critical infrastructure frugally.  I want to elect someone who did this in the private sector, like an operations manager or an excellent Public Works manager.  In rural counties, I prefer rotating the smartest farmers in the county.  I want them to demand a performance bond and take the lowest bidder for contracts.  I like those who are inclined to look for productivity improvements and use audits to catch errors and prevent corruption.  Government should not be viewed as a “Jobs Program”.

For State Legislature candidates, I like to see candidates who have held city or county elective office and have suffered under current State legislation. These candidates should run for State House Rep spots. Experiences House Reps should run for State Senate. State Senators should run for US Congressional Rep and US Congressional Reps or past Governors should run for US Senate.

I expect all elected officials to be mindful of how the laws they pass can and should be implemented and give staff the time to work out new processes.  I expect all elected officials to repeal bad law and only vote yes on clean Bills that don’t have unrelated amendments. A legislature should not be a “hasty pudding club”.  I expect elected officials to limit their involvement and make the government footprint smaller.

I would expect all elected officials to follow the US Constitution (as written) and vote no on any issue that is not in full compliance.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader