We've done it! ....Politics is now an issue-free zone. Yeee Howdy!

Change. Tears. Gender. Likability. Rudeness. Cuteness. Skin Color. Inspirational. Experience. Nepotism. Personal flaws. Personal attractiveness. True voice. Multiple personalities. Electability. Polls, polls, polls. Tweety. Feminism. Mysogyny. Racism. Insults. Strategy. Momentum. Firewalls. Comebacks. Takedowns. Generations......Blah,blah,blah.

Where do candidates really want to take the country? Who gives a shit?

We have all succeeded -- at least for the time being -- in replacing any trace of substance with gossip and soap opera, cults of personality, all liberally mixed with ingredients of the WWE and Pro Football.

Excuse me, I have to go examine some photos of the major candidates to see if there are any traces of hair dye in any of them. Now that would be a real scandal.

Yep. Sounds about right.

Direction? Plans? Issues?

:rofl:

That's SO last century.

Absolutely NOTHING on how we're going to accomplish our progressive goals.
Maybe after we select a candidate. I can have hope can't I.

prevent WMDs, spread democracy, transform the middle east

That sort of thing.

the trash!

organize and vote isn't abolished first.

My thoughts exactly.
Recommended. Now if I only knew how to "kick"
Oh well,

Whenever you reply in a thread that "kicks" it to the top.


I just kicked too.

The sad part is, I think we, the supporters, are generally responsible for this more than the candidates or the media.

even if they consider me a heartless bitch. I don't care who cries or who has a new puppy.

Management here even suggests that we develop iron underpants, or something to that affect.

Everything but the important issues that impact our lives.

Absence of issues is the Corporate Way.



Get with the program, Armstead! (Great thread, by the way, although it will undoubtedly piss off a lot of over-sensitive, defensive Kool-Aid drinkers, I'm sure.)

I mean, it's not like this hasn't been going on a while.

:hide:

(Sorry. Really, really sorry.)

We should all go and see if People Magazine has a forum. Those people know what is up!

or Poland. Something.

A real party-mix.

Whee.

It would be nice to debate the differences on the issues and why one candidate has a better plan than the other. But instead, supporter of candidate x tries to paint a nasty picture of candidate y and candidate z as if no one should vote for these "beyound evil" candidates.

This is an election year when we have some quality candidates but we still see the different camps pissing on one another. It's ridiculous.

I agree with you on all of that! Some of the topics here are getting a bit silly...

tho I do think that it is viable to inquire information on a candidates experience and/or electability. You wouldn't hire someone for any other job if you didn't know how their resume looked (experience) and if they could get the job done (electibility... which after all is what the PRIMARIES are hiring the candidates to do)

Obviously the personal qualities of candidates and their behavior and strategies are important.

However, we seem to lose perspective on it, especially in the onrushing events of campaign season. Heck, Ronald REagan was a great package as a candidate -- the problem was that the contents were sucky.

Politics is (mostly) slogans, speech-making, highlighting problems without specific solutions, and attacking the opponent. Nothing has changed this year from any other year.

I know there's always been a large element of hoopla and hype and the superficial stuff.

But there was usually also something they represented, on both the basic and specific levels. Each time around, it seems the ratio between hoopla and meaning gets increasingly tilted towards hoopla.

This time, an unguarded moment of fatigue and emotion by a candidate is blown up into a turning point. The word "change" is tossed around with no context of what the word actually means. We're supposed to base our votes on symbolic race or gender identity, with no thought of how the candidates' positions would actually impact women or minorities. The media has a severe case of bi-polar ADHD, where the slightest shift is hyped into exagerated swings. Polls become more important than votes.....

We saw what the politics of hype and spin brought us in 2000. One might think we'd have learned something from that.

I just think it's important to get back to some level of balance on what this all actually means.