Do you know who you're voting for Tuesday?
You ARE planning to vote, right? RIGHT?
You scared me for a minute, I thought maybe
You were going to say no! Whewwwwwwwwwww.
Here are a few pieces of sage advice from good 'old' Indy
concerning your decision on how to vote. Just a few
of my do's and don'ts.
Do...
Know who your candidates are, and what they stand
for on issues that matter to you. It really does make
a difference in a local race how a candidate feels
on even national issues. That same candidate may one
day run for president!
Do...
Consider the impact of your vote overall. Many
people use the 'I vote for the candidate' logic rather
than voting for a party. It has never been clearer
that in a two party system which party controls each
house of Congress makes a huge difference. Consider
this when voting.
Do...
Look for a candidate's substance. If you're making
choice's based only on what you see in ad's, your choice
will be based on an image that was put together by
an advertising professional and too few facts. A
political campaign today is too often an image campaign.
Some ad's do give you valuable information but...
pay attention and see through the images.
Do...
Watch for loaded statements from candidates.
These are clever ways to avoid taking a clear stand
on issues while attacking the opponent. A statement
such as, "I oppose wasteful spending," doesn't say much,
but it implies that the candidate's opponent favors it.
Do...
Spot phony issues. Candidates that talk about a
Social Security trust fund for example. There isn't
one and never has been! When a politician talks about
the Social Security 'lock box' he/she is assuming we
are all fools and don't know the difference. When a
candidate tries to place blame for everything from
unemployment to the economy on an incumbent, stop
and consider if that candidate was really in a position
to solve the problem... probably not.
****************************************
Don't...
Assume that negative ad's are true. Far too
many of these are in fact "mud slinging" and are
distortions aimed at giving voters the wrong impression.
Check the 'facts.' If true, then they may well be
information to consider, so take them with a grain of salt.
Don't...
Support a candidate just because the polls say
that a majority in your age group, region, ethnic group
or party does. Polls are easily controlled by carefully
choosing the questions and how they are asked. Poll
information can be used months after the poll was taken
as well, long after public opinion has changed on the issue.
Voting for a party based only on family tradition is
another big don't.
Don't...
Choose a candidate because he/she brings the
money home to your state. If a politician is bringing
big bucks home, then it's because of 'pork' being
added to other bill's and going along for the ride.
Do you really want to support huge expenditures that
never see an honest vote?
Don't...
Believe everything in the leaflets that campaigns
send out, again look for stands on issues. When you
read them check to see if they say more about the
candidate's love for family or his/her military record
than about any qualifications for office.
Don't
Choose a candidate on a single issue. It's a fact
of life that politics is a 'game' of trade off's.
If you have very strong feelings on a single
issue and shut out any other stands that a candidate
takes, you may be ignoring someone that agree's
with you on most everything else.
Trying to choose the right candidate can be difficult.
Sadly politic's in America can be a very dirty business.
Once the 'mud slinging' starts it's hard for even a
candidate who really wanted to avoid such tactics not
to respond in kind. It's our job as voters to make an
effort to get the facts and choose based on as much
information as possible.
