The 2012 Campaign: Big Money, Deep Pockets, and scare tactics

I've been paying close attention to the political posturing of our candidates of late and must confess that I am concerned.  I am a Democrat and my admiration for President Barak Obama knows no bounds, but I confess to thinking something is really wrong with our way of campaigning.  The Supreme Court's decision to allow superpacs to exist and contribute to campaigns is little different from corporations, except these corporations and individual donors join together to create staggering amounts of money in virtual anonymity.  Such power is almost unthinkable, and on top of it, we have a Republican candidate who is so wealthy that these guys jump right into his pockets and make themselves at home.  Now, even though President Obama has been backed into using Superpac money, the Republicans still outspend him

. And we wonder where our money goes when it evaporates...it's not gone, that money was lured to those big pockets like a magnetized vacuum cleaner--suctioned to the top.

I find myself even more concerned when voting districts are re-cast to ensure success for certain parties. I am worried about folks not getting a chance to vote--those most needy who would benefit from voting for a broad-based platform the Democrats put forth. What's a vote worth? I'm not sure anymore, but I keep doing it.  Earlier this year I went to the polls in my town to vote.  "But there's nobody for you to vote for," they said.  I answered, "Oh, yes, there is," and went over to the booth and pressed the button for the Democratic Primary--President Obama.  Don't let anybody else make up your mind for you--vote.

It bothers me too, that a voting public, we can be bought and paid for, and so easily swayed by advertising.  It seems the candidate with the most bucks to spend on it wins. Whatever happened to listening to candidates and making up our own minds, then following through at the polls?  For instance, how many times I have we heard Romney contradict himself? I've lost count. We simply cannot let someone else make up our minds for us.  I will not answer a political call, I do not watch television, and I'm darned careful what I read.  If I can't hear it from the candidate's mouth, and read what that person has written, I'm not interested.