A year ago, I couldn’t have cared less about politics. In the last six months or so, probably partially due to debates I’ve read and/or participated in at Peter David’s blog and the Lounge and Philosophy & Religion areas of Experts Exchange, I’ve found myself growing more and more interested in the political scene.
As the West Virginia primary elections approached (elections are today, and polls are open till 7:30pm — if you haven’t voted yet, and you’re here, go now!), I’ve started really noticing the political machine in action. I don’t know if it’s because this is the first election year where I was working in Charleston, or because of my newfound political interest, or because they’re worse this year, but you couldn’t spit in the city today without hitting five different people holding signs for five different political candidates… each!
I understand why politicians advertise this way. I also understand that it’s very likely effective — when you go to a poll and see two names, you’re more likely (purely a gut feeling — I have no stats to back this up) to vote for the name you most recognize, all other things being equal. Still, efficacy and rightness (for lack of a better word) don’t go hand in hand. An election should be about who’s best for the job, not about who’s got the money to have the most signs printed.
I’m dismayed at how little information these signs provide, but I realize the signs are designed to be seen as you drive by, and they can’t convey a lot of information that quickly. Surprisingly few, though, even offer a way to get more information. It’s probably just because I’ve developed, thanks to the internet, a feeling that anything written should provide a link to more information*. I’m a relatively (compared to these political candidates and their associated election committees) poor guy, and I manage to afford my own domain. How hard would it be for political candidates to get a website?! You want to be elected? Why not tell people why you deserve it? Give them a place to go where they can see what you stand for **?
As I was complaining about this to myself in the van this morning, I suddenly realized that I’m a hypocrite. I can, to some extent, tell you the differences between the presidential candidates, though by the time primaries get here, the only presidential election that matters is in November. I can name some of the candidates for Governor here in WV (I could name three Democrats and one Republican. There may or may not be more), and I could probably, if pressed, name a couple of points where the Democratic candidates differ from each other. The only one I’m really familiar with is Jim Lees, who (not coincidentally) has a website.
Congressional hopefuls are completely a blank slate to me, as are most candidates for other state elections. The only reason I know anything about local elections is that, in a small county like Clay, you’re usually familiar with at least one candidate, and you likely know both of them by sight, if nothing else.
There I was, ranting that we may as well just sell raffle tickets and draw names to get the winner, when I realized that I was as likely to vote by name recognition as everyone else. Years ago, there might have been valid excuses for this — there is only so much information that fits inside a newspaper, only so much data that can be communicated by television or radio, and there are enough elections, national, state, and local, that it’s hard to gather information on all of them.
We’re living in what I’ve heard some call the Information Age. The Internet holds a lot of information, so much so that it’s mindboggling. Why shouldn’t there be a website providing this information in a relatively straightforward manner? Maybe there is, and I don’t know it?
The ambitious part of me (who, if history is any indication, will be strangled almost to death by the lazy part of me before I even get this posted. He’ll take about 8 months to heal, then he’ll be strangled again) has spent some time thinking about what would go into such a website, and it’s a horribly daunting task (If it doesn’t exist, I understand why. If it does, then I have immense respect for its maintainers). It’s doable, though, and if something is doable, you’d think that someone (more ambitious than me) would have done it. It’s like climbing Everest… if the challenge is there, surely someone feels the need to step up to it. Come on, you lazy people! Step up to the challenge. Build (or find) a good one-stop-shop for political information!
… What? No, this has nothing to do with my being lazy and not wanting to do real research to make informed decisions in November. How could you ask me that?!
*Completely tangential: This is one of my favorite things about Michael Crichton novels. When you’re done, you have a bibliography of references to see how much license he has taken with the science involved.
**Even more tangential: For some reason, I’ve noticed more often recently when I end a sentence in a preposition. I try to avoid it, but sometimes, rewriting the sentence seems pompous or awkward. How could I rewrite this, for example? “…they can see for what you stand”? “…they can see you stand for what.”? I opted to leave this the way it is, but I didn’t want anyone to think that was because I was ignorant of grammar. I know the rules. I just choose to break them sometimes.
——–