This election aims at a �change.� Do we want to stay the course or change the direction of this country? It’s not only democrats, the minority, who are calling for change, but any candidate trying to gain office has hopped on the �America needs new direction� platform. More honestly, they are calling for people to vote for them instead of the shmucks that ran us into a horrific 8.5 trillion dollar national debt. My negativity toward the shmucks doesn’texcuse other candidates like Lynn Swann or Bob Casey Jr, from being incompetent, but it probably gives them extra leeway in polling estimates. I�m not advocating for people not to vote, but in Pa., our senatorial and gubernatorial candidates display few traits worthy of a vote.
By Stephan Puff,
Senior Staff Writer
This election aims at a �change.� Do we want to stay the course or change the direction of this country? It’s not only democrats, the minority, who are calling for change, but any candidate trying to gain office has hopped on the �America needs new direction� platform. More honestly, they are calling for people to vote for them instead of the shmucks that ran us into a horrific 8.5 trillion dollar national debt. My negativity toward the shmucks doesn’texcuse other candidates like Lynn Swann or Bob Casey Jr, from being incompetent, but it probably gives them extra leeway in polling estimates. I�m not advocating for people not to vote, but in Pa., our senatorial and gubernatorial candidates display few traits worthy of a vote.
The campaigns strategies are shifting toward new media, internet, blogs, YouTube videos, and Flash games/movies. Particularly this focus on new media means they are trying to grab the college from uncertain students who always seem too apathetic in the democratic process. This election has polarized ever last ounce of our media resources, which ideally was once a way to connect us.
Sen. Rick Santorum’s campaign is the forerunner of online tactics. With three Flash games, a blog, and television ads setup to look like news updates, they are certainly trying to twist media for political favor. The interactive Flash videos are basically negative attacks on Bob Casey Jr.
Political games and Flash movies aren’texactly new, but these are funded from Santorum’s political campaign cross from free speech to political bashing. In their debates Santorum criticizes Casey for airing negative ads, but the senator has hypocrisy running through his veins.
Other political games called �Boot the Bigot� by a Washington-based nonprofit, The Human Rights Campaign, attacks Santorum’s views against homosexuality. As a nonprofit, this is equally as sleazy as Santorum’s crew, and potentially violates legality under �501 nonprofit status.
Since we are the target audience of these negative tactics, it’s harder to pick apart what they want to tell us, and what they really stand for. Opponents Santorum and Casey have taken Bush/Kerry stances on securing our vote.
Santorum in his debates tells us �You know where I stand,� which is helpful to decide to vote for him or not. Bush said the same thing and it probably won him the presidential election over Kerry, but as we later discovered: honesty is nice but it doesn’tmake smart decisions for this country.
Santorum voted with Bush 99% of the time in 2003, 100% in 2004, and 95% in 2005. His �independent thought on issues� and direct approach doesn’tseem so original anymore.
Off the Internet, Santorum proved himself to be the better debater with more solutions than Casey. Casey, consistent with the Democratic Party, dodged issues in an attempt to let the Republicans unseat themselves with poor political choices. I can’tsay it would be a productive way to govern the country, but if Democrats win majority in the house and senate expect more solutions from them.
Casey’s dodging allowed Santorum to the floor in each debate, however, that led Santorum to say �I�m sure that we offended a lot of Germans and a lot of Japanese when we called a spade a spade in World War II. In fact, we did some horrendous things to Japanese Americans, but the American people have to understand.�
Yes, understand that he is willing to villanize and treat Muslims like we treated the Japanese. Was this part of �laying out a positive vision� like Santorum said he is doing? Even the President’s advisors warned Bush to drop calling the enemy �Islamic fascists� because it was doing more harm than good.
Casey might be absent for a key vote for Pennsylvanians, is that a vote we can afford him to miss? Can he assert himself, or will he be looking forward toward the presidency?
Santorum is the more direct candidate. Santorum is ready to attack Iran when it possesses a nuclear weapon or �any weapon of mass destruction?� He will put America on a two front war guaranteed to raise taxes or plummet us into trillions more debt. With his rash judgements and George Bush politics, can we really afford him to be there?
Our votes decide.
View this writer’s profile.