Mike Gravel, former Senator from Alaska. Internet darling. Gadfly. But I think he deserves to get more hits on his website so I'll throw in the 4 or 5 that he'll get from this. And for those that don't want to read it from the horse's mouth, here's a precis.
In much the same vein as my question to the world about Kucinich, what's wrong with the positions of Mike Gravel and why won't he be elected president? Okay, he's goofy on taxes. But other than that, what position does he take that the majority of Americans don't hold themselves? Why won't he get their votes?
What is wrong with our system? I know that the shorthand answer is "money" but, really, what difference does that make? What is it that has us convinced that we have to support the winner of the money race? Why does the media even tell us how much money is being raised when they never bother to tell us who it is being raised from or how it's being spent? Why does Some Guy in Oklahoma want to vote for Barak Obama when John Edwards better represents his views? Further, why would Mr. Guy want to vote for Rudy Guliani or John McCain when he disagrees with them on damn near everything excepet a woman's right to an abortion? And it's not that the candidate's views are secret or poorly reported. The media actually does a fairly decent job of telling us what the candidates believe.
What is it that the money really buys?
1 comment:
Money buys the one thing elections depend upon: doubt about your opponent. People are not elected to office because they reflect the voter's views; they're elected because voters have been led to fear that the opponent is worse. The person who wins most close elections is the one who has enough money to pimp stories about the opposition that will scare voters.
Issues? Ha! It is to laugh. Money, and lots of it, means the issues don't really matter as much as the image.
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