Above Average Jane
Above Average Jane
Many of the people who regularly read this site are professional
politicos. I'm not. I'm a civilian, a citizen, a voter, involved in my
community. In the primary election my household make political
contributions in the amount of $30.00, the general around $175.00,
split among 3 candidates, so I'm not a high roller by any stretch of
anyone's imagination. In years past I've stuffed a few envelopes or
made a few phone calls. In one election cycle I played a noticeable
behind the scenes role. That's the extent of my active involvement in
politics.
Two of the candidates I contributed to this time around won. Like many
voters I stood in the voting booth, pulled the lever and said a silent
prayer that if my candidates won they wouldn't turn into jerks or
power hungry thugs. Maybe they already are and it just doesn't show.
Voting is always a crapshoot. The candidates are always around just
before the election but the day after? You just don't know until it's
too late; once entrenched it's almost impossible to get rid of
someone.
Trying to find out about candidates or elected officials is tricky.
Savvy voters go to debates, forums, public events, but finding out
about them in advance can be difficult. Often only the party faithful
are informed of these things and newspaper announcements are usually
in small print and appear a matter of days before the event. Working
people find it hard to attend daytime events with short notice. You
can find candidates at community events, but it isn't always easy to
find out which ones, and they are walkabouts where a handshake and a
sentence or two are all you get. It's almost a game for interested
voters - tracking down the wily candidates and trying to find out what
they think of the issues. To further muddy the waters candidates will
focus on 2 or 3 issues they think most likely to appeal to the voters
(and donors). Very few candidates make good use of electronic
communication. Web sites are all too frequently graphic rich and
content poor. This time around we heard mostly about the war, medical
malpractice and property taxes. What are the chances that any of these
will be resolved in the next congressional (state or federal) term?
So, as voters rejoice at the end of those awful recorded phone
messages and settle in for Thanksgiving feasts, there is the niggling
doubt in the back of our minds, the buyer's remorse that comes after
elections. I'm hoping my elected officials turn out to be the quality,
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