Election ’12: Time to examine candidates, set stage for future
The November elections—pillars of our national pride held the Tuesday after the first Monday of the month—are essential to U.S. Democracy. They give access to the policies that control our lives.
And this link to government gives us the responsibility of correctly choosing our political leaders for the next few years.
There are many schools of thought that apply here. Should I pick the candidate who will work the hardest? Or the one who is the most honest? Or maybe who has the most experience? Is the candidate with the best hairstyle the correct choice?
The truth is that many factors go into governing on all levels, and many factors should be incorporated into a voter’s choice.
Try this simple exercise if you find yourself split between two candidates:
For the constituency that a particular office represents, what are (in your opinion) the most important issues? What are the most important traits that officeholder must have? Write down whatever comes to mind—as many items as it takes to have a satisfying list.
Then write down which candidate you believe “wins” each category by imagining how the candidate would be in office. While understanding the different weight each issue has—all issues are not created equal—total up the wins for each candidate. Although this is certainly not a perfect system, it will give you an idea of what your feelings are for the election.
The purpose of this unscientific experiment is to try to understand which candidate will be best for the office’s constituency. And it is this idea that we should address above all others.
Fair elections should be held with pride, but also with focus. We should be focused on what is the best path for our town, county, state, or nation. Part of this focus is a duty to examine those running for public office.
If we do this collectively, we will not be wrong in our selections.
Our nation will strengthen.
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You can follow Colin Criss on Twitter @ADKCurrent
