Deciding who to select for U.S. president may be an easy choice for some; plenty of people vote principally on political party affiliation or who has similar personal interests, but that’s not how I roll and voting has never been a simple task for me. In my opinion, there’s much to evaluate each election season. If you believe in being “bi-partisan,” or assessing a candidate based on their individual plans versus party association, you have to thoroughly review their ideas and look into their background to possibly get some perspective on their consistency. If there’s an incumbent president running, you have to recall and analyze the last 4 years and try to predict what the next 4 will be like if they’re re-elected. This isn’t quick and painless homework for anyone, especially if you’re not politically savvy already.
Trying to increase political knowledge is a little daunting; most television programs, magazines, blogs and websites are biased or lean more towards one candidate than another. I find this particularly frustrating because I never know if I’m getting unfiltered truth. News programs are supposed to be about informing; not “spinning” or influencing. It would be nice if there wasn’t an attempt to manipulate my mind and I could make a decision based on pure facts. With summarized or generalized information, visiting a nominee’s official website sometimes doesn’t tell you much either. For example, while looking over President Obama’s site, there was a point about gender discrimination in healthcare that read: “President Obama is putting an end to the health insurance company practice of charging women more than men for the same coverage… Mitt Romney would let employers, insurance companies, and politicians limit women’s health choices.” The statement doesn’t entail the specific actions Pres. Obama is taking to put “an end” to charge differences, nor does it explain how Mitt Romney’s plan “limits women’s health choices” or allows for the continuation of discrimination. If one was completely ignorant to the issue of women’s rights and healthcare, it would be hard to fill in the blanks with that statement.
President picking can also be hard if you agree AND disagree with a candidate on various key issues. I agree with President Obama’s stance on abortion legalization, but I’m not completely sold on his economics. One might feel that the economy is much more important than the status of abortion legalization, but the reality is that ALL issues are important because they can and will affect someone. We shouldn’t only be concerned with what affects us directly. We purport that our politicians must always consider the collective, yet we often don’t ourselves-but that’s another subject. Some will read this article and assume that I am indecisive, but voting for lawmakers who affect the lives of my fellow citizens is not something I take lightly.
Trying to increase political knowledge is a little daunting; most television programs, magazines, blogs and websites are biased or lean more towards one candidate than another. I find this particularly frustrating because I never know if I’m getting unfiltered truth. News programs are supposed to be about informing; not “spinning” or influencing. It would be nice if there wasn’t an attempt to manipulate my mind and I could make a decision based on pure facts. With summarized or generalized information, visiting a nominee’s official website sometimes doesn’t tell you much either. For example, while looking over President Obama’s site, there was a point about gender discrimination in healthcare that read: “President Obama is putting an end to the health insurance company practice of charging women more than men for the same coverage… Mitt Romney would let employers, insurance companies, and politicians limit women’s health choices.” The statement doesn’t entail the specific actions Pres. Obama is taking to put “an end” to charge differences, nor does it explain how Mitt Romney’s plan “limits women’s health choices” or allows for the continuation of discrimination. If one was completely ignorant to the issue of women’s rights and healthcare, it would be hard to fill in the blanks with that statement.
President picking can also be hard if you agree AND disagree with a candidate on various key issues. I agree with President Obama’s stance on abortion legalization, but I’m not completely sold on his economics. One might feel that the economy is much more important than the status of abortion legalization, but the reality is that ALL issues are important because they can and will affect someone. We shouldn’t only be concerned with what affects us directly. We purport that our politicians must always consider the collective, yet we often don’t ourselves-but that’s another subject. Some will read this article and assume that I am indecisive, but voting for lawmakers who affect the lives of my fellow citizens is not something I take lightly.
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