Politics
With the local elections coming up on November 7th, my area has been hit with yet another flood- this one of election signs scattered about on every available patch of shoulder. The larger intersections have giant emblems announcing their candidate's wishes, set up on large wooden posts and lit at night. The smaller, more numberous ones stick in the ground on little metal legs and flap in the wind.The part of Rankin County I live in has an open Supervisor position- which means everyone and anyone in my district is running for the position. I've counted at least six different candidates on my local bike rides- there's probably a few more. Needless to say, it's clear that whoever wins will keep the position until they grow feeble and/or die.
I'm not quite sure what a supervisor does, but I know they get an issued vehicle. Apparently one of their jobs is to drive on every road in their district during their elected term.
What I don't get is this- five or six people are running for the position, and yet not one candidate has stopped by, talked to us for a few minutes, and went on their way. This is a very small area- a candidate and a few volunteers could practically knock on every door in the space of a month.
Yet they don't, even though most people would be much more impressed by that than the effort it takes to have one thousand identical signs printed. Signs that give us no inclination of the man behind the well-designed advertisement.
I'm not voting, because my vote would be misinformed- similar to a lottery. I don't know who to vote for, or who not to vote for. I'd rather vote for the man I'd met, even if I didn't agree with his positions, if I could assure myself he was a candidate that intelligently reached those positions. Conversely, someone who agrees with me who is an idiot probably isn't a good pick. It truly is the measure of a man, at least as far as I'm concerned. I want someone who will do the job well, not someone who would do the job as I necessarily see fit.
But would be politicians simply see the problem of getting elected as something they can fix by throwing money at it- which is precisely why they make bad politicians once they're elected. We need candidates who will capture our respect- until then, the highway shoulders look like decimated theaters of war, as each candidate wages a furious attempt to decimate the landscape with their weapons of choice.
And the guy with the most signs will probably win.
