2008 Elections: Expect More, and Get It
The 2006 Congressional Elections will soon be upon us. This means that shortly thereafter, regardless of the outcome, the real run for the 2008 Presidential Election begins. Yes, I know, two years of all the double talk, spin, deflection, and backstabbing seems interminable.
However, we can make this an interesting two years, but it requires a paradigm shift in attitude, voice, and tenacity.
WE NEED TO ASK FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION FROM THE CANDIDATES AND EXPECT THEM GIVE US STRAIGHT, NO NONSENSE ANSWERS.
What do I mean by this?
Well, we’ve all seen politicians, candidates for office or candidates for reelection especially, who are asked a question but act as if it were never asked and talk about something that they feel more comfortable talking about, or about something that they feel they need to get into the debate to make themselves look better. Spin, dodge, deflect.
This is unacceptable, and needs to be stopped.
We need to pressure politicians to answer our questions, and be obstinate about getting them. We need to ask deeper, more penetrating questions.
They need to cater to our needs for information, not their need to get their packaged, spun, poll-guided message across. We need to eliminate “message” from their vocabulary, and have them think in terms of concrete plans, concrete actions, and core beliefs. We need to get under their skin, crawl around a bit, and determine, for ourselves, what they’re all about. If they waffle, we should boot them.
For example, we should ask every Presidential candidate who they would select as their cabinet if elected.
When a candidate criticizes another candidate, or a past action from the current President or past Presidents, we should expect them to tell us what they would do, or what they would have done in a similar situation. We should ask them to justify this by citing past action and speech that would make us believe that this is truly the way they would have acted … and not just an answer that they’ve figured out the American public wants to hear at that moment based on polling results.
We should expect candidates to fully explain poor decisions made by them in the past. We should not allow them to change their minds or waffle … we should make them take a stand and support it. If they made a bad decision they need to own up to it, and not spend time blaming someone, or something, else. The buck needs to stop with them. We need to expect them to take personal responsibility.
We should criticize candidates that will not be straightforward and direct in answering questions. They should be penalized by not getting our vote. And, we should tell them so!
We need a deeper understanding, heard over and over, of what a candidate will do … what their detailed plans are once they get to office. Who they’ll surround themselves with. What they want to accomplish in four years.
With that, we’ll be able to grade them and know if they are worthy of a second term should they be elected.
It’s time we made running for Presidential office the serious matter that it is, rather than the side show that it has become.
And, the media should also be held accountable for asking these tough questions, regardless of the candidate’s party affiliation. They’ve enabled this culture of spin, and they need to stop it.
If not, we should cancel our subscriptions and turn off our TVs.
However, we can make this an interesting two years, but it requires a paradigm shift in attitude, voice, and tenacity.
WE NEED TO ASK FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION FROM THE CANDIDATES AND EXPECT THEM GIVE US STRAIGHT, NO NONSENSE ANSWERS.
What do I mean by this?
Well, we’ve all seen politicians, candidates for office or candidates for reelection especially, who are asked a question but act as if it were never asked and talk about something that they feel more comfortable talking about, or about something that they feel they need to get into the debate to make themselves look better. Spin, dodge, deflect.
This is unacceptable, and needs to be stopped.
We need to pressure politicians to answer our questions, and be obstinate about getting them. We need to ask deeper, more penetrating questions.
They need to cater to our needs for information, not their need to get their packaged, spun, poll-guided message across. We need to eliminate “message” from their vocabulary, and have them think in terms of concrete plans, concrete actions, and core beliefs. We need to get under their skin, crawl around a bit, and determine, for ourselves, what they’re all about. If they waffle, we should boot them.
For example, we should ask every Presidential candidate who they would select as their cabinet if elected.
When a candidate criticizes another candidate, or a past action from the current President or past Presidents, we should expect them to tell us what they would do, or what they would have done in a similar situation. We should ask them to justify this by citing past action and speech that would make us believe that this is truly the way they would have acted … and not just an answer that they’ve figured out the American public wants to hear at that moment based on polling results.
We should expect candidates to fully explain poor decisions made by them in the past. We should not allow them to change their minds or waffle … we should make them take a stand and support it. If they made a bad decision they need to own up to it, and not spend time blaming someone, or something, else. The buck needs to stop with them. We need to expect them to take personal responsibility.
We should criticize candidates that will not be straightforward and direct in answering questions. They should be penalized by not getting our vote. And, we should tell them so!
We need a deeper understanding, heard over and over, of what a candidate will do … what their detailed plans are once they get to office. Who they’ll surround themselves with. What they want to accomplish in four years.
With that, we’ll be able to grade them and know if they are worthy of a second term should they be elected.
It’s time we made running for Presidential office the serious matter that it is, rather than the side show that it has become.
And, the media should also be held accountable for asking these tough questions, regardless of the candidate’s party affiliation. They’ve enabled this culture of spin, and they need to stop it.
If not, we should cancel our subscriptions and turn off our TVs.
posted by Mark Pukita at 4:14 AM
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