College of Political Knowledge
2010/2012 Election Series
The mid term election is quickly approaching but what will the outcome be? Will the American people throw the bums out? Or will they go for broke and elect radical Righties to lead the country? Will the voter show logic and rationality in their voting? Just how will the people track in their voting?
There for awhile the media was giving the Tea Party more than its fair share of influence….why do I say that? Simple…..they missed the beginnings of the movement and now hope to capitalize on it……The media, especially conservatives in the media, have said that the people are tracking to the TP because of their anger with Washington…
Personally, I think it is much to do about nothing! The big TP candidate has shown that he is a Repub, NOT A Teabagger! One Scott Brown. The TP candidates in Kentucky and Nevada and elsewhere are showing that they are truly on the fringe…some think the unemployed are causing unemployment (no! really!)……and there is one that does NOT want to eliminate Social Security, but rather wants to PHASE it out (no! really! Has been said!) These show just how out of touch these people are….but the elections will tell just how out of touch the American people are.
If the TP cannot get a foothold in the South, where conservatism is at its highest point, then where will they find it?
A mainstream Republican rolled past a tea party activist Tuesday in the GOP runoff for a southeast Alabama congressional seat that Republicans hope to reclaim.Montgomery City Councilwoman Martha Roby was drawing 60 percent in the unofficial count in the 2nd Congressional District GOP runoff Tuesday against Rick Barber, a former Marine who operates a Montgomery pool hall that hosts tea party meetings.
Remember him? He was the one that was in a bar talking with our Founders and said to “Gather your armies”? His brand of politics did NOT play well in the Deep South……if not there, then where?
It is too early to look at the trends in voting…..okay something else…..Obama’s disapproval rating is 57…..Repubs are at 73% and Dems are weighing in at 67%……
I distrust polls especially the ones 4-6 months before an election…..much can happen by the time people vote and will swing approval in another direction…..the trends today point to the anger of the people will NOT translate into votes for any different type of candidate….the US will get a carbon copy of the politician that they voted out of office….nothing will change and the people can go back to bitching about their representation in Washington…a vicious cycle that few are willing to break…..the only trend that will be evident with the next election is that the TP will be proven to be a non-player……
Plato disliked democracy because he said it was “opinion over knowledge”…….and this next election will prove him correct, yet again…….people will vote with their opinions regardless of the facts…..
Good post and I agree. What I think few people realise (though I’m sure many are aware of it subconsciously) is that it makes no difference anyway since the best they can do is either to vote FOR the one issue that is most important to them, or against the one they hate the most.
Even if they were not manipulated shamelessly by those who control all (although they are – wickedly) the people really have very little power over anything at all. However, considering their (perfectly understandable) lack of political knowledge and expertise, I’m partially with Plato – maybe it’s a good thing of sorts that the whole exercise is more or less pointless “window dressing” anyway.
There is a push in one state (dammit I cannot remember which one, sorry) for the ballot to have an “against” , which means that we could vote against a Dem and a Repub on the same ballot…you would not have to vote for the least hated…..I kinda like it….
Yes – I like that idea too… but the fact is that, if you want to stop a praticular issue, you’ve gotta vote for the other guy and the same if you see one issue as vital FOR you. All the rest becomes just “padding” to you that you have to put up with in order to get/stop what you want.
It’s still single issue politics for each individual elector and, frankly, to me it’s crap!
I agree…..a brilliant idea unfortunately it is only in one state for now…..and on another note….the political climate in the US now….it would be the perfect time to try it nationally….
The only problem is, as I see it, that all you are really doing is letting them know you’re pissed (like they care anyway). Not voting at all would have exactly the same effect on the candidates, wouldn’t it?
What would happen if “against” got moe votes than either of the two others? It’s the biggest problem (of many others) with a two party system.