Election Day - Is It Here Yet?????
I cannot wait for election day to come. Not because I am loving this campaign season. Not because I’m excited for my candidates. No, rather selfishly, I can’t wait for election day to get here so we can get this election over with and move our focus back to what really matters - life. I’m tired of all the stories about how this is the most critical election of our lifetime, just like the last election and just like the next one will be.
I’m tired of the attacks on negative campaigning - or what people claim to be negative. In reality - they are just pansies who don’t like criticism. Negative, in my mind, would be telling lies. Criticising your opponent for something he or she did isn’t negative if it is truthful - it’s informing the voters - that’s what campaigns are supposed to do.
I’m tired of seeing poor campaigning - from inconsistant messages to no messages, inconsistant themes, to-little-to-late antics, poor comercials, bad direct mail pieces, lost opportunities, etc. It only proves that something like 90% of the people in politics really have no clue what they are doing.
I do want to be positive though. I have seen some bright spots out there. I have seen a few promising candidates who have run pretty good campaigns - it’s my hope that the voters will reward these candidates for running good campaigns. I’ve seen a handful of candidates who actually have a vision for what they want to accomplish in office. Far too many people get elected that really shouldn’t. And then once they get in office, they don’t have a reason of why they should be re-elected. Unfortunately, too many still get elected based on their name recognition.
I do want to mention one last thing - I think the Democrats are making a huge mistake. They have set the bar way too high for themselves. They are going to lose the expectations game and in a big way. Take a look at the predictions - here in PA they are talking about winning the governor’s race, Senate, State House, and now some are talking about the State Senate. If Santorum manages to win and the Republicans hold on the the Senate and the House, who do you think will be percieved as the big winner on election night? Republicans, even if they lose seats.
The federal level is no different. All the predictions out there are for the Democrats to take over the House. Many are also now talking about taking over the Senate. If Republicans manage to maintain control of one of the chambers, who wins? Republicans because they beat expectations. Democrats are predicting a sweep of all the chambers of government - I don’t think that is likely and I think Democrats are going to shoot themselves in the foot for making such bold claims.