If you’re like me, you’ve probably been REALLY annoyed over the past several elections. The amount of money/time/coverage spent on deciding who the best candidate for each party, and now finally, even MORE is being spent on deciding/advertising which is the best candidate overall.
I don’t have a solution. But I know that something is broken. When more money/time/resources are spent on campaigning and finding a new candidate (a new hope) that promises to make everything better……than is spent on feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and caring for the oppressed (without political motives).
Here, you can see that in the state of IL alone, in 2006 almost $166 MILLION dollars were raised for political/campaign financing. In 2008 so far, over $34 million has been raised.
Obama has recently gotten a lot of press for “opting out” of the public financing system, saying it’s broken, etc. I really don’t know enough about it all to know what he’s talking about.
But looking at the financial contributions in general for the presidential elections….it doesn’t look like either Obama or McCain are hurting, or will be hurting in the next few months. So what does a presidential campaign spend all that money on, when the newscasters are giving them TONS of free publicity already? Check this list out, posted just a few days ago, on just the past MONTH of Obama’s campaign. Almost $900,000 in credit card fees? Really? I’m guessing that doesn’t refer to payments made, but actual late and usage fees. Seems a bit irresponsible. And to be fair….here’s McCain’s list from the past month. (you’ll notice he likes flowers a lot more)
I’ve heard several well-meaning people who agree that all of this is REALLY ridiculous, and that neither candidate is going to fix everything, say that they just aren’t going to vote this year. I’m not sure that will accomplish anything.
I plan on voting…still not 100% sure for whom….but I think it’s a part of being an active citizen (the kind we’re called to be) within whatever system is currently in place where we are.
But in a world where needs are….well, everywhere. Something different than what’s happening needs to happen. And it’s not happening yet.
words from wick 