Another election cycle is drawing to an overdue close. In Maryland the ads in the Governor’s race have been bad enough, but they are mild when compared to the Senate campaigns in Maryland and Virginia.
Each campaign uses obscure ancient things to find fault with the other and to make each sound like a fatal flaw. When an opponent changes positions from that which was held earlier in life they call it “flip flopping”. If the person does not change a position they portray the lack of change “arrogance” and as being “out of touch”. They portray the incumbent’s votes, even if the vote had broad bipartisan support, as being rash, lacking courage and wisdom. Positions and quotes are ripped out of their context to be used in way that is contrary to the original meaning.
One ad’s logic I found to be most interesting….it faults the incumbent for voting against stem cell research (a rider on a much larger funding health funding bill said the funds in that legislation could not be used for stem cell research). It then says the incumbent does not want ill people to get well. The ad then calls the incumbent heartless and cold to the needs of the residents of his State. When one tries to correct the record, they are called ungracious and lacking sensitivity and broad shoulders.
We attack our politicians for changing. Hence, we expect them to be immutable, never changing their positions or growing over the years. They are attacked for making a vote on legislation that does not work out as intended. Hence, we expect them to be omniscient, all-knowing and seeing three or seven years into the future with complete clarity and understanding. We hold them accountable for the failings of others associated with them or under their supervision as if they were personally present when the action took place. Hence, we expect them to be somewhat omni-present. We complain when our elected officials are unable to successfully solve with complex issues or situations beyond their control. Hence, we expect them to be somewhat omnipotent, having the ability to have power to solve our problems. And added to that mix, when they are attacked personally, misquoted, their records distorted or maligned in other ways we expect them to suffer quietly. In other words we expect them to be gracious to all, generous to all, quick to forgive and slow to anger, and above all, loving their detractors. We act shocked and fault them for the littlest of character flaws or when they use the wrong word (I am not downplaying those who have brought scandal upon themselves). Hence, we expect our leaders to act and speak perfectly.
At the end of the day we seem to expect our leaders to be mini-gods. We expect them to not like the rest of us who are deeply flawed. Though we expect mini-god like behavior from our leaders, we then attack them when they try to act as if they were mini-gods.
Reflective Wanderings - Reflections on various topics that arise out of my personal, life and professional experiences. There are also are some family related news, travels and pictures.
12 comments:
why do americans have elections so often? and why do they obsess about it for so long before the actual election? i remember when i went to africa and i was returning in february of 2004 i had a 5 hour layover in niarobi and they had a tv in their restaurant. not having seen tv for over a month i sat and watched the international cnn channel for 5 hours, and i swear 4 1/2 hours of it was devoted to the upcoming american election - which was held in november!!!!!
Jenn, To answer your question. Every two years we elect our entire House of Representatives. Our senators are elected every six years. This year, the entire house and half of the senate are up for election.
This year is as intense as ever as the democrats have a real possibility of gaining both the house and the senate. The republicans are losing out due to their connections with Bush. Because of this opportunity, the gloves are coming off by both parties and the "obsessing" you mentioned is exaggerated even more.
Uncle Dave, Here in Connecticut it is especially interesting as Senator Lieberman lost the democratic primary, and is now running as an independent. The republican candidate does not have the support of his party or the White House as the republicans think they have a friend with the former democrat Lieberman. The senator does have a double digit lead over his democratic challenger, so he should retain his seat.
Jenn....because elections are held on a set date, posturing and planning for the next commences very early. The presidential campaign will start in the coming months, albeit quietly as potential candidates raise money and build their teams.
In Canada, because federal and provincial elections are called by the party in power (except if they get defeated in a minority position by a vote of none confidence). Once called the election period cannot not last but a few months, there cannot be the same build-up.
Also, because of the US's place in the world just about the whole world follows the American election results. Canadian elections are merely a footnote in most countries.
I don't even want to think about the 2008 election! The democrats could have Mickey Mouse as the nominee and he would probably kill whoever the Republicans nominate!
This cycle of elections is for Congress, state and local offices. The next Presidential election will be in two years. In Canada, all of your federal officials are elected at the same time. The Parliamentary system is much simpler, and in some ways more efficient, than the American system. In the USA, various federal offices are up for grabs every couple of years.
This year is a big mid-term election, as it's the middle of Bush's second term in office (presidents serve for 4 years per term, up to 2 terms). All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election (Congressmen are elected every 2 years) and 50 of the 100 seats in the Senate are up for election (Senators serve for 6 years). This means that the balance of power between the White House and Congress could shift substantially this cycle. That's why the current campaigns are particularly nasty. They'll be nasty again in 2 years when a new President is elected, along with all members of the House.
The reason for all of these federal elections is the "checks and balances" theory behind the American system. Staggering the terms of office and having frequent elections is, theoretically, supposed to keep balance between the executive (presidential), legislative (congressional) and judicial (Supreme Court) branches of the American federal government.
Given this structure, someone, somewhere, is always campaigning for office. In the USA, candidates have to win "primary" elections within their parties before they can go head to head against opponents from other parties in the open elections. So, even though the next American presidential election won't take place until November 2008, candidates have to start campaigning within their parties a year or so before then to have a chance to actually get on the ballot. It's a matter of public record that Hillary Clinton and John Kerry have already raised millions of dollars for their 2008 runs.
And remember, various state and local offices are up every year too! Plus referendums, etc. In Virginia we've got three significant referendums on the ballot this year, but we've hardly heard anything about them because of all the attention given to the federal election.
Talk about 2008 is already in the air. That will increase substantially this coming Wednesday, after our elections conclude on Tuesday. Gotta love (or hate) American politics!
All the election talk gets rather tiresome for those of us who aren't American. We can't even watch a TV programme without being inundated with it. Every other commercial is about who not to vote in. It's a breath of fresh air for us to watch a Canadian station and the Canadian news. And, like Jenn said, it goes on forever!
CFL Reference??? I am an American and I am wagering a guess as to what you were referring to.
I don't think Obama has the experience at this point to take the White House. I believe his next step will be Hillary Clinton's running mate in 2008. It will then eventually set him up for his own run. Although, he probably will run in 2008 to lose and have Hillary snag him for her VP. This has happened in the past, Reagan/Bush, Kerry/Edwards, to name a couple.
Sorry for hijacking these comments for an american point of view! I love my country and enjoy predicting politics.
Thank goodness for channel changers. When we're watching an american station, the channel gets switched whenever the election commercials come on.
ARGOS....!
In the semi finals - go Argos go! It's easy to get distacted from elections no matter what country you are from.
Chris - good guess. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Toronto Argonauts are two CFL teams. The Bombers, of course, are the greatest!
One does not need to be in Canada to channel surf when political advertisements air. My channel surfing has increased fourfold in the last three weeks.
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