It's all politics, man- just politics...

Guess what, everyone?

It’s an election year- AND IT’S CAMPAIGN TIME!

Yaaayyy!

Okay. I know NO ONE who says that. Or anything like that, at least while referring to politics.

And there’s good reason for that. Primarily, I’m pretty sure that it’s because of the politicians. I do actually care very much about who is leading the country I’m living in. I’ve lived here my entire life.

However, “Democracy if the worst form of all governments- except for all the other kinds.” That’s exactly how I feel about the United States. And I think that it’s primarily the fault of politicians. I don’t think that it’s our system of government or theories of leadership- it’s about the *reality* of leadership in this country. It’s about everyone looking out for themselves. It’s about no one in government using common sense- or possibly just not having common sense.

Back to campaigning, and here is my issue. Ask a contender what his position is on taxes; he’ll tell you all of the ways that his opponent’s position is wrong, he’ll go on about how his opponent is an idiot, and he’ll tell you that his position, his plan, is so much better than his opponent’s. He’ll probably tell you that his opponent doesn’t have a plan at all. He’ll go on, and on, and on, about how he’s so much better than his opponent.

What they will NOT do Is actually TELL YOU WHAT THEIR PLAN IS. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a politician in a race actually state his position on… anything, I think.

WHY NOT?

It is up to the public, to the voters, to make the decision whom they like more, which candidate they prefer. The candidates are supposed to, as I understand it, propose their ideas, give their positions, and debate why their platform is stronger and better suited for the country than their opponents’. However, the final decision is, again, for the voter to make. Comparisons are for the voter to make, the winner for them to decide.

The way that politicians act, they clearly don’t trust the American people to make their own decisions. They don’t seem to think that the public is capable of choosing the best person to be a leader. It seems like that totally defeats the purpose of an election, doesn’t it?

This is why politics pisses me off. If they can’t propose their position and support it, why should I vote for them? On what am I agreeing with them? If they can’t even tell me that, if I can’t trust them to give me a straight answer and actually tell me their platform, why should I place my trust in them to lead the entire country?

I feel bad every election year, because everyone asks me whom I support, and I really feel that I should have a position. I think that I should have an opinion. I really feel that I should know what each candidate stands for. But I don’t. I don’t, because I can’t stand to listen to politicians. I hate watching them trash other candidates, I don’t want to dig through page after page of uninteresting information that wasn’t written for general understanding just to unearth what each candidate’s beliefs, positions, and past actions have been. If they can’t present themselves well to the public, why should I bother? Why should I want to find out more about them?