Campaign Reform...

I have to admit that all this continuous campaigning gives me a huge headache. In the end, I can never recall hearing anything of substance. All I hear is bashing of the opponent. Where will that get us? Campaigning should be all about the issues and problems facing our country and a specific plan about how each candidate will tackle those issues. I don’t mean talking in generalities either. I want specific details. All this “he said, he said” business is just a waste of time.

I think there should be some campaign reform. I will be the first to admit I don’t know what I am talking about, but I am still going say something. First of all, there should be a limit or cap on how much each candidate can spend on their campaign. It should be an equal and reasonable amount of money, so that we hear more or less the same amount of BS from both sides. If they had a limited amount to spend, maybe they would be more creative in their approach to reach voters. They would have to pare down their rhetoric to what voters need to hear instead of “anything he can do I can do better” talk. They don’t have to jump on each other’s stupid remarks because the media already does a great job of accentuating the negative. The comedians poke fun at them and social media online run with the ball. You can’t miss a thing these days. So cap the amount of money spent, with an independent accounting firm keeping track of it all, AND tell us what we need to know with that money!

The next thing I would insist on is that candidates have to tell the truth. Not their version of the truth. Not a PR spin on the truth. The unvarnished truth or as close to it as they can get. We should require it and insist on it. It should have to pass Maury Pauvich’s lie detector test. Candidates should not be allowed to lie to the voters or tell half truths. How can we be expected to make an informed decision when all our information is fabrication? Back when our forefathers were running, things were simpler, and yet I’m sure there were some underhanded things going on when it came to elections. But look how far we have come? We have gotten so much more sophisticated at lying and covering things up. So clever at making scandalous things disappear. So masterful as to create illusions of heroes out of ordinary men. Why does it have to be so complicated? Maybe because we can no longer find an honest man with nothing to hide to run for office? Maybe if we found one he wouldn’t be able to win an election because it requires too much deceit?

I don’t know about you, but I appreciate knowing the truth, yet there seems to be nowhere we can find that. The truth is now in the eyes and ears of the beholder. Even today’s journalists and news media have abandoned the truth, probably for higher ratings and more money. Money is, after all, the root of all evil. So they sensationalize stories and report them, before all the facts are even in. Who cares if they are wrong? They will just print or issue a retraction, but meanwhile the story “sold.” We should demand more and be able to expect more from the press. Freedom of the press was not meant to spread lies, but to spread accurate information. It’s being abused.

Our country was founded on strong principles and values that have gone to hell in a hand basket. There are no more Walter Cronkites reporting the news. There are no more “honest” Abraham Lincolns running for President. We are told lies, we vote for the lesser of two evils. Something really has to change. The truth is a fundamental and necessary value that is lacking everywhere you turn today. Let’s get back to it…the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth!