Regardless of what you think about politics and politicians, essentially every aspect of our lives are affected by them. Part 1 of my “politics” series are my observations and part 2 are the “facts”, if you will.
First, the voter (and non-voter) need to accept some of the blame for the mess that Washington is in – after all, we’re the ones responsible for putting them in office and keeping them there. We, the voter, are the politicians’ boss and we are the ones who hired them; we are therefore the ones who should fire them for poor performance, and replace them with someone who will do a better job. It’s no different than hiring a known swindler to work for you and then being surprised and upset when that same swindler steals from you to the point that it runs your business into the ground.
The problem most voters face is not knowing who or what to believe. A couple of guidelines I use are: 1- how do they actually vote on the issues, and 2- what kind of integrity and character do they exhibit in their campaigns.
1- Politicians can run from, hide from, and distort just about everything except their voting record; a politician’s voting record is a testimony of their values and beliefs. Regardless of what political ads say, the best way of knowing what a politician will do in the future is to study what they have done in the past. To access a politician’s actual voting record, go to VoteSmart.org.
2- If you think that a candidate who runs a dirty campaign, refuses to acknowledge or accept responsibility for their past actions (both political and personal), and has shown a general lack of integrity, will suddenly turn into an honest and straightforward representative when they are elected, think again. Our congress and senate are filled with politicians who have proven otherwise. Not only are you paying their salaries, but you are paying for their waste, fraud and abuse as well.
I’m not officially endorsing one candidate or another although my mind is solidly made up for whom I will vote; it’s up to you to do your own research, weigh the issues, and make your own decision.
Since my blog deals primarily with bird dogs, and secondarily with guns, hunting and the outdoors, I’ve included several links that I thought might be relevent. In my next post on politics, I will publish the official position that each of the Democratic and Republican candidates have on guns and the environment.
I’m not going to publish the positions of the other candidates, because it’s a given that either a Democrat or Republican will be moving into the White House and I don’t want to drag this topic out like some political blog. However I strongly encourage you to spend time educating yourself on these lesser party candidates, your own representatives, and the issues.
National Rifle Association
Buckeye firearms association
Us sportsman alliance
Ontheissues.org
VoteSmart.org
Tags: campaign promises, politics, presidential election, voting
