“Winning is merely a precursor; what is of most importance is what happens afterward.”
In my early years, I voted for a Party’s candidates based on their Platform. Later, in mid-life, I learned that while the Platform should be the Standard of Measure/Quality Assurance document, I had learned through a rude experience to shift my voting focus. Why?
Based on their lack of adherence to the Platform they were meant to represent, I sadly admitted that too many flawed candidates mouth the words to win and then walk away from their promises. There are too many failures to “vote the ticket” to continue to “pull the lever” for all Republican candidates.
Voting is just another marketplace. Instead of wisely spending your dollars on services and goods, you are “buying” the political equivalent. Your vote IS the political analog to your dollars spent in the public marketplace.
I knew what I wanted in my Representative(s), but I’m a long time away from merely falling for the Marketing of just the Platform as it gets ignored more often than not. Thus, I do the homework to winnow the busts from the “stellar.”
My association with Dan Richard over the past few years has added a new dimension to my decision tree/ The Constitutions (US and NH). Do I see a fealty to Constitutional values and precepts? If not, even if candidates pass the “Platform test,” they will not get my vote. Period. Those who put other things on a higher plane (their own agenda, special interest, looking to BE someone over getting the right stuff done, the singular obsession of the acquisition of Power) will not.
The will of the people has been replaced by the two-party system. Both political parties ask you to reelect them based on either party platform. This is the illusion of a choice as politicians seek your vote based on your party belief and not the state constitution. The difference of course is the New Hampshire Constitution is a legally binding document, but the party platform is the set of ideas that are not legally binding. This is a trick to get you to consent to 2 more years of bad government.
Daniel Richard
Too many of our societal problems stem from two things – the lack of proper educational training in Civics (vs ideology) and ignorance/apathy of what politicians get away with as they know most won’t do their duty to watch over what goes on in Government.
Dan Richard is spot on with his observation; he is one who is living up to what our Founders expected from ALL of us. I am also glad to remind folks that GraniteGrok, from our inception 18 years ago, has also been taking care of our mandated responsibilities.
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