In the World
This past week all it took for John Q Public to be informed about the workings of government was to read the local newspaper or listen to radio and television reports. True, depending on the news source, a certain amount of bias may creep into the message but compared to many of the largest countries in the world we've still got the opportunity to stay informed and influence the decision making for our elected representatives and those seeking office. Last week's political activities brought to mind a quotation by Sir Winston Churchill, “It has been said that Democracy is the worse form of government , except for all the others that have been tried.”
Last week was an example that our system, as imperfect as it is, still represents the best system in the world. The GOP debate among no less than seventeen presidential hopefuls was available to the entire world for observation.
On the other end of the spectrum was the rising star of candidate Carly Fiorina, who entered the debates hobbled by lack of name recognition. Her performance was so good Ms Fiorina will probably be called up to the Big Show for the next debate. That should give old “What difference does it make” a major case of heartburn since The Anointed One's entire campaign is based on gender (her party has already played the race card).
Ms. Fiorina has extensive private sector experience, as does candidate Dr Ben Carson. What a breath of fresh air it would be to have either candidate serving In Washington where the atmosphere is currently fouled by the stench of career politicians on both sides of the aisle. Ms. Fiorina does not automatically get my vote based on one presidential debate but she sure got my attention enough to do serious research on her background
and political philosophy.
There are three categories of voters who will select our next president. Category I are the robot voters registered in both parties. They remind me of assembly line robots in a modern assembly plant. They are programmed by family tradition and are incapable of voting for a candidate of the other party. Ironically party bosses take these people for granted and only pay lip service for their guaranteed vote. Little attention is paid to their wants or needs.
The second category of voters are the low information crowd who usually believe there is a government Santa Claus out there who is offering them a free lunch. In the end these folks are also big losers being deprived of upward mobility by their dependency on government programs.
The third group represents citizens registered in both parties as well as Independent voters who do their homework before pulling the lever each November.
Being an optimist by nature I'd like to believe this group is on the rise. Only time will tell but in the interim, IT'S SHOW TIME!
Stratton Schaeffer is a retired consulting engineer and farmer who lives on Joe Hill.