You Can’t Complain About Idaho Life if You Don’t Vote

When I was a young guy working my way through college, I heard the same complaint on the job.  “They’re all the same,” was a common reply from people who didn’t vote.  I would call the people who said that the Jerry Springer crowd.  They flocked to some TV shows that were designed to keep them occupied and that offered false morality plays.  Heck, we all have some relatives who could’ve appeared on any of those episodes.

Sure, a lot of political rhetoric sounds the same.  Because the subject is politics!  If I’m casually watching a football game, most announcing crews sound the same, but the talking is accurate.

Let me make a counter-argument to all the same.  If that’s the case, then why is so much money being dumped into political advertising?  Because there are some major differences between candidates and the special interests funding campaigns.

A lot more people will show up and vote in presidential elections, but the guy who resides in the office doesn’t rule.  He works with two other branches of government, and historically the most powerful federal branch has been Congress.  The President gets nothing done without cooperation from Capitol Hill.  In the end, both the President and Congress can be checked by the courts.

I believe one problem is that we’ve instituted confusion.  At the state level, we also have Representatives and Senators, and I know people it bedevils.  Newsrooms have traditionally done very little to make clear the differences.  Then the same reporters turn around and say it’s your responsibility to know the difference.  True, but they haven’t helped.

This is sad because decisions made at the state and local levels have a greater impact on everyday life than most decisions made in Washington, D.C.

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