Why the government is out of touch and control

The media is big business these days. Gone are the stalwart journalists of the Watergate era who weren't afraid to piss someone off. The so-called journalists of today never answer any really tough questions and don't grab hold of the politician or corporate talkinghead by the toe and not let go until they squeal. The media is part of the problem, not THE problem. It's always refreshing when someone in the media or a politician actually does what they're supposed to do.

A recent BusinessWeek article reports that politicians shake down lobbying groups for money all the time, as opposed to the popular image of the lobbyist being the agressor. So, if you get elected, you can look forward to the day when you can shake down the media groups for money to get back what they shook you down for.

 

You are right, it takes $30K just to shake the hand of a rep that is on "our" payroll. Whatta system. I'd like to see them pull the plug on ALL TV/Radio political advertising.

 

Are you running for something local, or more "state-wide"?

 

Naw, if you ran on the finance reform banner, elected politicians would consider you a threat and have the media people who are in their pockets crucify you. Either that, or the politician would investigate you at taxpayer expense and offer the media a nice juicy story based on one percent truth and 99% innuendo. The media loves great stories because more people read or watch which means that they can earn more money in ads. Hatred of the media will get you nailed faster though. Because then they'll do it themselves out of spite. Your almost pathological hatred of the media is misguided. As I said, they're part of the problem, not THE problem. If you're a mailman and you have a house on your route with a vicious watchdog, the instinct is to consider the watchdog to be the problem but the real problem is the person who lives in the house.

 

I was going to run for a county position. After researching & networking with some important movers & shakers it was determined that the cost would be $150,000-$300,000. And that was not the reason I didn't pursue it.

I had no name recognition or lots of $$. However, the biggest problem was I don't belong to any civic organizations. I would have had the financial backing if I was a "joiner."

As to politics, if you got a cushy elected position with all the benefits & perks that come with it would you want to lose that position later? You would have to go back to being a working person again. That has to be a politician's worst nightmare. That's why there's no real changes. Politicians love the status quo.

 

I guess what I was getting at, is I'm not really sure public television is the way to go... After all, how many people actually watch non-cable TV (assuming, of course, you're either attempting to advertise on one of those "community" channels, or a somewhat local area broadcaster).

For example, our local Congress rep. I would have had NO IDEA who she was, until she actually knocked on my door one day. Her name, is the only name I know, regardless of who else is running because I simply don't pay attention to most advertising.

I think people in my/our age group (soon to be, dare I say, the "primary voting contingency"), don't really actually physically read newspapers, nor watch "regular" TV anymore...

I guess I'm just questioning just how effective it actually is.

 

From the perspective of someone who's definitely "new media"... i'd start thinking about non traditional media like the web. There's a certain grassroots and raw nature of new mediums... it feels unfiltered and honest. Start a weblog. Do a podcast. etc etc. Think about the Howard Dean model...

Just a few ideas. I have no idea how to run a campaign. :lol:

 

Off the top of my head, come knocking on my door, or somehow get your word out on the various local newspaper/BB SITES I visit, AND/OR send me an interesting piece of mail I just won't toss, for mail is ALWAYS a point of contact for me, I HAVE to sift through it everyday... But then again, that IS just me.

 

Well this seems like one place where we agree. The media is problem #1 when it comes to money in the game of politics nowadays.

Everyone seems to forget that the airwaves were trusted to the media companies for the public good. They get to make money off of it, but in return, they agree to provide a public service by providing news. As a part of their charter, we should mandate free air time to political candidates to take money out of the equation... but with the days of these big media companies being a power unto themselves, I don't see that happening...

 

Howard Dean had a few failures at the hand of the media, but my point was that he ran a relatively successful and unconventional grassroots campaign through the primaries. I feel he's made a difference in the way small mobile campaigns can be run.

 

I hate to burst your innocent bubble, but *all* politicians - from the County/Municipal level on up - are corrupt, evil, lying pupae wiggling around in their own poop.

The political game is the ultimate Old Boys Club: it's not what you know, but who you blow. The first priority is to sell your soul to the highest bidder, and it goes downhill from there.

My Dad had a very close friend who ran for elected office in Michigan back in the early 70's. He had the money and some influence, and thought he could really "clean things up." He was also very naive of how the backroom deals were made, as he inherited his money, not stabbed folks in the back for it in the biz world.

Instead he discovered the slimy underside of politics, including how campaigns are really run. The lies, the backroom deals, outright threats and blackmail. He had a heart attack a few years after losing the election, and my Dad still tells me some of the juicier stories as a warning NOT to trust *any* politician.

It you even *hinted* at "real" campaign finance reform, you'd be tarred and feathered.

Getting back to your topic title, the gov is out of touch because we allowed it to be: we put an arm's length barrier between ourselves and the political machinery, AKA The Bureaucracy - and that serves to faithfully insulate politicians from all but the most serious misdeeds they commit.

 

I'm no constitutional scholar... but it always seemed to rub me the wrong way when the argument is made that money and donations for political candidates is free speech.

Though each of us are equal under the idea of one man one vote, when it comes to the campaign, it's the dollars that do the voting... So while a billionare and a guy raking in mimimum wage are equal, one is more equal than the other...

It seems like through campaigns... we aren't even hiding how close we are to an outright oligarchy.

Bothersome.

 

sorry but politicians get to me only one way. do something that makes news. be on TV handing out dinners to the poor, be going door to door in person collecting donations for a MS (multiple scrrocsi not squid!!) walkathon...that gets my attention. or be in the editorial of the newspaper speaking your mind.

i immediately tune out all political advertising of any kind. imm, you be doing nothing but wasting your money