Campaign Reform

Ok, I know. I hear the collective groan. For the record, I'm NOT talking about finance reform. I'm talking about rhetorical reform. No negative ads. No dissing, lying, exaggerating, twisting of facts. Talk about YOU. What would you do? Who are you? Why should we vote for you?

Ah, not just Presidential races...ALL OF THEM. I for one am sick and tired of political ads of any kind. But the worst are those that take information bits out of context, don't give full facts, or just out and out lie. And while some people may like this, I doubt the majority do. I'm guessing they're sick and tired of it too.

All a negative ad does is cast doubt and create fear of your opponent. And in the end it's told us something about you and how you'd govern. None of it good. We all have our darker side, whether we're just tempted or we act on that temptation. But aren't we better than that? Aren't we better than hoping others will fear the person running against us?

Nearly 150 years after the Civil War, the melting pot that we aspire to be is still taken down by the idea that only white men need apply. We allow the stereotypes to be the truth, and don't question the motives of others. We incite fear of those different from us, even as we embrace that melting pot. The problem is, some want that melting pot to mean that everyone becomes like "us"...except that there is not just one version of "us". We've come to disagree violently with those who have ideas different from ours and dare to speak them out loud.

Prejudice, especially leading to hate and violence, should not be an American value. "United we stand, Divided we fall", long a phrase to remind us that we are all in this together...because we are. Amazing how quickly we forget that. For us to truly be better, we should try to make sure we are all made better...through personal action, through the actions of government. Otherwise, maybe this democratic republic shall not stand.