All the "issues" are rather meaningless in elections, in the LARGE sense.

People get themselves in an uproar every few years. They pour massive amounts of money, time, shoe-leather, and tears into the support of their candidates .... In the end there are really only 3 things that have ANY bearing on the elections, and sadly, ALL three are "out of reach" for the candidates and their boosters.


1. Voting, and having your vote properly counted cannot be relied upon. People register, and then wonder if they are "really registered". One can call the registrar's office daily, and yet if your name does not appear on "the list" or "in the database" ON ELECTION DAY, you will not be voting. You may stamp your feet and demand a provisional ballot. You may be given one, and may actually vote, but, those ballots are counted much later, and usually will not even matter.

If you manage to clear the hurdles, and your name magically appears on the list, some obscure mark or unclear "directions" may render your vote(s) invalid. This is not as painful, because in most cases you will never know it. You will blissfully leave the polling place, confident that you did your civic duty. Much later, in a different place, full of people you will never meet, you vote may be disqualified.

2. The press/media is only interested in creating a "game" out of our elections. The view the whole process as just another "reality show", to be managed, promoted and played. It IS the ultimate "Survivor Game", but the stakes are so much higher. The survival of billions of people are really at stake when the "leader of the free world" is being selected. Real issues are shoved under the rug, while the minutiae is discussed ad nauseum. This serves TWO purposes. In one case, it devolves the serious problems we all face, into clever little sound bytes, without ever giving context or revealing the complicated consequences of the issues, pro or con.

The other case equivocates issues that are in no way equivocal. The press/media has somehow convinced themselves that, in the absence of a real "Fairness Doctrine", they can cobble together one of their own. This little beast that they have assembled out of the leftovers and scraps is more dangerous than having nothing at all.. In another time and place, their "new and improved" equivocation machine might have shown their version of the "other side" , of guys like Hitler.

3. If your guy manages to avoid being "voted off the island", and actually wins his/her election, the "real fun" begins. The powers that be will immediately set out to collect on the favors they "earned" during the campaign season. The big-bucks donors will be calling in favors like a Momma looking for her lost child...Relentlessly.. Even the electee who is steadfast and dead-set against these tactics, knows that to ignore these folks will make them a one-termer, so you may hear little more of the reasons you loved this person and worked so hard to get them elected.


The "basics" of our system have been so perverted, that things need to change, at the very heart of the system. We have approached voting, like lots of homeowners do. They spend tons of money on paint, carpet, wallpaper and fancy doo-dads, yet the foundation of their home is crumbling.. It's not as gratifying to spend money on concrete, floor jacks and expensive contractors, so they continue to "beautify" their home, only to wake up one day, IN THE BASEMENT..

Our whole system needs an overhaul, and until then, the best we can do is to keep trying to get this message out to everyone we can. It's a vicious little circle. The pols actually like it the way it is, so they don't have much interest in changing it. The media would have to "hit it hard" and often to even make most people aware, and they seem to have no intention of doing this. They have a symbiotic relationship with the politicians, so as much as they rail against them, the media always knows that there is a line they must never cross. Their audience/readers/listeners cannot see this invisible line, but some of us know it exists. Politicians can make life easy or difficult for broadcasters, and vice versa, so they just take turns leading in their daily dance....

The folks in charge of the nuts and bolts section of voting, have happily abdicated all responsibility to local officials who alternately support change and rail against it. While it's fine to administer elections at the grassroots level, it's also dangerous to have such a hodgepodge approach when it affects national offices. The federal government touts "state's rights" when it comes to voting, because in most cases they are reluctant to part with money they have already earmarked for their own pet projects, so they are eager to "let the states" do it on their own when It comes to elections.

Every four years our creaky ole "machine" is dragged out of the shed, dusted off and fired up....and every four years we realize that "we really need a new one" , but it's too late NOW.. So we get out the baling wire, chewing gum, and duct tape, and we tweak it back to life, and vow that by the next election, we will have solved the "problem"...

and so it goes....