Tuesday, August 10, 2010

primary day

They have moved Minnesota's primary from September to August, for reasons I do not wish to research.  I am already weary of the commercials, and seeing yards littered with signs.  In honor of primary day, here is my wish list for politicians, be they local, state, or national:

1.  Stop being so negative.  When you have 30 seconds to tell me something, please spend it telling me what you believe in and hope to accomplish, not whom your opponent has been endorsed by.  I have already worn out the mute button on my remote, as the commercials are nauseating.  No matter who is making them.

2.  At this point, don't tell me what a horrible job our current governor has done.  He isn't running.  Please refer to point number one.

3.  Really, how many people decide who to vote for because they saw a sign in someone's yard???  I would think that now that we are on a green kick, and recycling, and saving the world, we could save a lot of trees and resources by skipping the yard signs.

4.   Can we please put a limit on how much a candidate can spend?  Wouldn't it make a more even race, if each candidate had the same amount of money, and we could see how well they manage those resources?  Might help us understand how they would manage a budget.

5.  Stop calling me.  I am on the do-not-call list, and I believe that should apply to any political campaign as well.  (I know, it doesn't, but a girl can dream.)

6.  Please don't make lofty promises, that you, as one person, cannot possibly accomplish all on your own.  YOU cannot create more jobs, or raise or lower taxes. 

7.  The first candidate who tells me "I have beliefs and ideas, but I am willing to work with the opposition to make the best compromise for the majority of the people" will get my vote, no matter what party they are from.  I firmly believe that people are sick to death of partisan politics, and would love to see politicians stop serving their party interests at the expense of accomplishing anything.  I know that isn't how politics work, but wouldn't it be dandy if it did?

I do have to say, I admire anyone who wants to run for public office.  To me, it sounds like the most distasteful job I can imagine.  But somebody has to do it.  So I will go out today, and exercise my right to vote. 

If nothing else, to honor the women who worked so long and hard to get us the right to vote, ninety years ago this month.  I found this little piece in an article on the suffrage movement, that I share with you today:

Opposed by a well-organized and well-funded anti-suffrage movement which argued that most women really didn't want the vote, and they were probably not qualified to exercise it anyway, women also used humor as a tactic. In 1915, writer Alice Duer Miller wrote,



Why We Don't Want Men to Vote


•Because man's place is in the army.


•Because no really manly man wants to settle any question otherwise than by fighting about it.


•Because if men should adopt peaceable methods women will no longer look up to them.


•Because men will lose their charm if they step out of their natural sphere and interest themselves in other matters than feats of arms, uniforms, and drums.


•Because men are too emotional to vote. Their conduct at baseball games and political conventions shows this, while their innate tendency to appeal to force renders them unfit for government.
 
Will you be voting today?

1 comment:

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