Tag Archives: political campaigns

Why I Rarely Give to Political Parties

I vote in every election open to me, but I rarely contribute to political campaigns.

Americans now give massive amounts of money to political causes. According to opensecrets.org, almost 1.5 billion in political spending was raised in 2016.

Until campaign finance laws are passed, I will probably continue my small rebellion against the outsize influence of money on our political process.

I will instead contribute to those worthy causes now struggling as they are bypassed for political giving.

Some are charitable—the local food bank or medical assistance program. Others are religious groups ministering to the grieving and confused. Some help young people find purpose to overcome the destruction caused by drugs.

Political parties feud over the number of Central Americans attempting to cross into the United States. I recently gave to a non-profit group teaching Central Americans better agricultural practices, providing doctors to encourage a healthier population, and lending help for economic activities so the people can support themselves—and not feel compelled to migrate.

Politics has raked in an incredible amount of money, while many other worthy groups suffer from neglect. I can vote for them with my small contributions.

Competition: Politics and Charity

I’m sure I’m not the only one inundated this past political season with emails pleading for donations for various candidates.

Some of them may have been from Russian trolls for all I know, but others certainly were from legitimate candidates, including those I voted for.

How much of the money we formerly gave to religious causes, to the needy, and to other charitable concerns is now going into political campaigns?

Politics has become more than a civic duty. It has become our newest religion.

That may be another argument for campaign finance reform.

Packaging the American Election

American elections are about advertising—the packaging of the candidates. And packaging costs money.

A reward for contributing the most money to a successful campaign may be access to the president to lobby for favored business interests. Or the contributor may be awarded a place in the president’s administration or maybe an ambassadorship.

Candidates are sold like toothpaste or cars. They are sold to appeal to the electorate, who are boxed up by paid studies into neat electoral slices.

Political campaigns are couched to appeal to those electoral slices. Like an ad for a food product, they narrow down a specific desire and zero in.

A few Americans read about products before they buy them—dietary supplements, automobiles, or floor covering, for example Too many depend on splashy advertising that appeals to desire but doesn’t offer real information.

Desires for physical products are often self-centered: to be cool or beautiful or wealthy. Vague promises, hard to quantify, are made about the product’s potential. Smart consumers search for proof that the product gives what it promises.

However, desires also can be unselfish: for strong job growth or freedom from terrorism or saving the lives of babies. Politicians cater to these desires, too. Whether candidates actually care or can actually deliver may be secondary to their desire to be elected.

Wise voters continually study reputable sources—about the country and the world, as well as about the candidates. Does the candidate’s character and past life indicate how well the candidate may carry out what they say? Do candidates actually give evidence of caring for what they promise to do?

Best to go beyond the flashy advertising, the tweetable campaign slogans, and the I’ll-give-you-the-moon speeches.

When Democracy Works, It’s Beautiful

I had not wanted to come. For one thing, the incivility of our national election season has turned me sour on anything political. For another, the Saturday morning was beautiful after rain drenched days, and I could think of a hundred other things I either needed to do or wanted to do. I went anyway—to the public meeting with my state legislators. Sheer civic duty and nothing else.

Safe to say that the majority of the attendees had voted for some one other than the three legislators. This more sparsely populated end of the country tends to vote differently than the other two districts and is often outvoted.

The local telephone company (yes, we still have a local one) had provided their meeting room for the event. The local newspaper editor emceed.

The audience listened politely to the speeches, occasionally even applauding. A few of the following questions were pointed, but nobody screamed or insulted anyone. The legislators actually appeared to give thoughtful answers, leaving aside the canned jargon.

We broke up into three groups, one for each legislator. Individuals shared concerns. I asked questions about my pet subject, campaign financing reform. We all had our say.

As I looked around at my neighbors, the memory of a past absentee ballot reaching me in a country with no elections flickered through my mind.

We lived in other countries that held sham elections. Everyone knew the ruling party would win, as it always had. No one would have bothered to show up at a gathering like this if one were offered. Besides, probably not a good idea to offend the governing elite with criticism.

In my epiphany, I wanted to ask my fellow participants: Do you know what you have? Do you know how precious this process is?

Candidate With the Most Tweets Wins

The Cold War diplomat, George Kennan, a former U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union, was an old-fashioned patriot who served his country because he believed in America.

Kennan influenced U.S. foreign policy as few diplomats or other public servants do. His policy of containment helped us avoid outright war with the Soviets, while waiting until the Soviet Union dissolved, surpassed by a politically and economically superior West.

Two trends in his beloved country bothered Kennan during his later years, For one, he feared its citizens were too involved in consumerism.

Secondly, he feared Americans were too prone to see complex issues in simplistic terms.

We might remember his admonitions when our political campaigns descend to tweetable sound bytes.

I’m Already Sick of Election Talk. Could We Change the Channel?

We already know what we need to know about most of the candidates. Why should we spend more than a year escaping attack ads, dodging phone callers and their canned spiels about candidates, and deleting massive numbers of political emails?

Perhaps we could begin a movement to ignore all news about the candidates until at least the beginning of 2016. Refuse to comment on the Internet about them. Flip the TV channel anytime a news story on the elections is broadcast. Advertisers might get the idea.

We might push to have one Extreme Tuesday in September, 2016, when all primaries are held. The parties would convene in October to choose candidates. The election would be held as usual in November.

Who knows, we might even make a dent in global warming without all that hot air.