Posted by
Mr. H on Tuesday, May 06, 2008 2:08:32 PM
You know, I think the main reason I never update this blog is that I believe no one reads it. Hopefully people will prove me wrong and encourage me to write more often.
For the first time in many years, the primary elections in Indiana actually mean something. The overall winner of the Democrat presidential candidate race could well hinge on who wins here today. I guess that should be something we applaud as Hoosiers, considering that usually our votes in the national primaries mean nothing since winners have been locked in before we hold our May elections.
The flip side to this, as much as I hate to say anything bad about exercising the franchise, is that Indiana has been subjected to an obscene amount of advertising by the Clinton and Obama camps. Tomorrow will be a happy day as I can watch television for more than ten minutes without seeing any candidates' ads.
How much money was spent by both campaigns during the primary season? I can only pray that it was enough to cripple the winner's means to fund as many obnoxious ads in the real campaign. Sadly, even with "campaign finance reform", I fear that the coffers will overflow and the ads will be never-ending.
The real losers in this campaign cycle, like so many before, is the average American. The amount of money required to enter politics now is not only sickening, but should have the Founding Fathers rolling in their graves. One local example: a Democrat candidate for the 7th District House seat currently held by Andre Carson is spending over $1.3 million dollars of his own money on his primary campaign. On his primary campaign!!! He is a local doctor and apparently has the means, but goodness sakes. His campaign commercials have been horrible, too. All they do is describe President Bush's "mess" and how he would fix a few parts of it to get us out of it. They don't even say what district he is a candidate in, only that he is a "Democrat for Congress." For those of you not in the know, the greater Indianapolis area is divided into several congressional districts.
Our government of the people is now represented only by those who have the personal fortunes to run for office. Maybe 100 years ago any kid could become the president. Now, it is only for those blessed enough with the financial means to make it worthwhile. Sad.