Frank Borelli
Editor In Chief
New American Truth
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While I was enjoying watching some television yesterday evening with my son (new season of NCIS) we saw a political advertisement sponsored by one of the Virginia Governor candidates. It was a unique moment for my 11-yr-old-son to look at me and say, “That entire commercial was about the other guy.”
What an interesting observation from a child. The entire commercial wasn’t about what the candidate believed in; supported; or how he felt about any contemporary issues. The entire commercial was about his competition; his opponent’s beliefs, statements, actions, etc. I enjoyed one of those light-bulb moments when I realized that most political campaigns today are more about what’s wrong with the other guy than what’s right about the candidate running.
How did we get to this point? How did our society reach a point where running for a political office was all about insulting your competition? What ever happened to honorable competition? What ever happened to integrity in a campaign?
Just once I’d like to see a candidate get behind a podium at the beginning of a campaign and say (and stick by it):
Thank you for showing up today. My name is Joe Candidate and I’m running for X position. Today I’m here to share my thoughts, feelings and beliefs with you on a variety of topics that I feel are important in our society today. Some of my thoughts and feelings are controversial and you certainly won’t agree with everything I say. I welcome that. THANK YOU for holding your own beliefs and sharing them with me so that I can constantly re-evaluate my own.
With that all said, let me tell you one thing I won’t do, now or ever: I won’t run a campaign that bashes my opponent, Mike Candidate. Mike has served his community well as far as I know and he represents a set of beliefs, values and thoughts that are different from mine. I hope he shares them with you so that you can decide which of us best represents YOUR beliefs, values and thoughts and vote accordingly.
What I ask of you today though is to demand such a campaign from both of us equally. Politicians today have made a career out of attacking their opponent rather than expressing their own position. It’s my personal belief that such campaigning is not only offensive to the politicians themselves, but insulting to the intelligence of the America voter. I refuse to participate in such campaigning and I ask you to join me in standing against it.
Now, let’s get into what values, beliefs and thoughts I have, so you can decide whether or not you’ll give me the honor of representing you in X office…
Wouldn’t that be great? Couldn’t you just see such a person voting their conscience instead of some lobbyist’s interest?
What do you think?
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I completely agree! There have been a couple of campaigns that STARTED out that way in our lifetime, but not in recent history. I have been calling for this kind of overhaul since 2003! Although, I will admit my ballyhoo was mostly confined to my own home, maybe it is time to take the goals elsewhere!
Mudslinging seems to have become the norm in political campaigns, and other aspects of life. Although the politician maybe successful in life, I think that part of it could be low self esteem, and they feel that they need to drag the other candidate into the mud in order to rise above them.
Although there are very few elected officials that I have any respect for, I would have more respect for them if they just kept to what is important. And that is what they believe in and what they want to do for us the tax payer.