Here Come the Candidates…

Now that a couple of people have actually announced their candidacies for president of the United States of American, I wonder, what is it about running for the job, actually gets a candidate elected?

We can see how the Electoral College works but what is it that makes us vote for someone?

Okay, first, let’s remove all those who vote party, now what?

Potential candidates have to really want to go through all the crap it takes to get the job otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth it. Someone has to say to themselves, “I really, really, really want to be president,” or they must be persuaded by others to agree to run for the job. “Hey Nut, we want you to run for president, whadda ya say?”  We may respect them for making the commitment.  (wink…wink)    😉

Perhaps many of them really start out as decent people with noble ideals.  Is it the power, the action, the hotdogs and cheese steak sandwiches? They all say they want to help America and then once elected, they mostly help some of the people, some of the time but mostly themselves.

Charisma? So, is the person likeable? If they’re so fantastic in the first place, why do they need coaches to turn them into a wonderful candidate? Shouldn’t they already be “presidential” enough to be president? They need doctors and coaches – nah, not MDs but spin doctors; not sports coaches but body, language and speech coaches. They need to know how to speak to us in a way that we will find them appealing. Too bad they don’t have moral coaches. Sorry, that just slipped out.

Now, they need money. Fundraising…aaahhhh, so sweet the times of fundraising—I’m sorry did I hear someone say $30,000 a plate? Yeah, I don’t think so. I’ll just buy a bumper sticker or a yard sign. Someone else is buying candidates because I can’t afford them.

The national debt is about $18 trillion. If the top two candidates spend about $500 million on television ads before the election is over then that’s okay because it’s nothing compared to the national debt. All spending combined will probably be over $3 billion, maybe a little more because they’re starting a bit early this time; and you know, about 91% of that will be spent on negative ads against the other candidate(s). There goes that moral dilemma again. And of course, the leftover funds, if there are any, go to other candidates, the party of a defunct candidate or charity (I wonder which charities actually get former campaign funds). PAC man…

So, the candidates are poked, prodded, washed and waxed, reinvented in some cases, taught how to dress, look, speak, move their hands, and are provided constituent-tested facts, figures and responses. Now, who do we most identify with? None of the above. Why, because we all come from a set of circumstances that are so diverse no one else could possibly understand enough about us for us to form a true relationship with a candidate who can only think of us, if they can still think for themselves after this evolution, as groups of this and that. And most, not all, live lives that are so far removed from the every-day reality we all live that many of them have forgotten, if they ever knew it, life before politics. We pick the person who says the things we want to hear, or do we? What are we looking for in the perfect candidate? CNN has a poll: http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/22/politics/2016-election-poll-perfect-candidate/ . But, do we follow what we say we want? Do we look past what we know to be bad behavior just because we’re used to seeing them in the news, or do we really see a candidate for who they are, what they are capable of once in the office, do we have an agenda? Maybe we just vote for the person who appeals to us; or the one we dislike the least.

In the end, does it really matter who when events will probably dictate (ew, there’s that word) what actions will be taken or should be taken? I think it does but we may never know how they’ll act until they’re in the chair.

Perhaps it is true, we have to vote them in just to see “what” we get.

Jay 🙂

In full disclosure, I switched to Independent — I rarely receive campaign literature or phone calls 😀