One future of politics

With the impact of Hurricane Sandy (which seems to be going through a name change to "Superstorm" Sandy) still being battled here on Long Island, my view of the various elections was somewhat different than in past years. I'm not going to go into party affiliations or beliefs during this post but more observations of being unplugged in. I have no TV or internet (or power) at home but most of the TV coverage I did see had to do with recovery from the hurricane anyway. I did listen to some radio but the same political ads played over and over in between the hurricane coverage. Social media seems to have a tendency to ignite passion within people but I understand that can be passionate for what you believe in as likely as being passionate about something that you think is evil.

With that context, it seems that several candidates and/or parties believe that the road to being elected has nothing to do with the issues. Vision is not important. The ability to realize that vision isn't relevant and should only be thought of after the election results are in. What is most important these days? Fund Raising and Negative Advertising. This is one future. We can let this happen or steer it in another direction.

Do you want to elect the best fundraiser or the best leader? Do you want to elect the person who hires the best marketing team or the person who can put together the best team to govern? The irony is that it may be the same person but we may never know that.

Another future could be for more getting more involved earlier. Separate the facts (which are always interpretations anyway) from the rhetoric. Be closer to the issues and constructively help solve problems.

Tip O'Neill was one of the earliest to say "All politics is local." Fixing politics is local too. If your candidate lost it might be time to get more involved. Same if your candidate won.

PS: We'll return to our regularly scheduled triathlon and training rants shortly. This weather is making training a challenge for me.