Alright, this is my first ever post here. I have been a long time lurker and finally am ready to dive in and post. So here goes. As we enter the long slog that will be the 2012 presidential campaign, I can’t help but wonder what will be the new ways that candidates will try and entertain the masses into getting us to show up at the polls and spread the word as to why they are best (democratic) candidate for the job. But instead of the same tired old ideas, I wish they would do something different as opposed to TV ads, countless flyers that will hopefully get recycled, emails, and the standard stump speeches. There is nothing wrong with any of these, and all of them definitely excite me as the start to trickle in. But they seem so dry and pedantic, and don’t really cause the buzz they use to. They also seemingly drain a lot of money that has been raised by the Netroots, and only stimulate the job industry in the printing, delivery, and web business(all of these jobs are well deserved, and I don’t think they are going away from a campaign anytime soon. Also, all of the money that is sometimes given to a candidate could go to a charity or another worthwhile cause, and peoples hard earned money only goes to a hard working campaign staff and pollsters and their consultants, instead of in the hands of those who need it the most.
So Here is my idea at how to change that. The candidates should change that by holding their campaign events across the country at various businesses and services across the country by using those donations to give back to hard working businesses and to drive up business there by giving back to the communities and constituencies that the candidate is trying to get elected by. Let me explain.
Instead of a candidate saying that gas prices are high and something really needs to be done about it, the candidate should pay for gas for a whole day at a gas station and talk to their constituents about what they would like their candidate to do to lower them and for a candidate to truly see how much gas costs and get them to realize that they need to actually solve the problem of high gas prices as opposed to just saying something about it. Instead of complaining about rising food prices, a candidate should make an appearance at a food desert and either cater a food truck or convince a farmers market to be there and then send everyone of their constituents home with healthy organic food that can provide them with a meal free of cost and discuss with them about making sure every community has access to quality food and that no one should ever have to go hungry. Instead of just promoting the affordable healthcare act in terms no one understands, a candidate should stop by a local clinic, adopt it for the day and give away free physicals, or better yet maybe even create a pop up dental or vision clinic and give away free glasses and dental work so people can see that healthcare should be available to all and it should be able to put a smile on their faces instead of frownlines from countless unpaid medical bills. Another idea would be to maybe buy an independent bookstore for a day and instead of just promoting literacy and education, give people the opportunity to read one of the countless books that people recommend here to read, and also get people to invest in great local bookstores, and maybe also encourage them to renew their library cards.
I think if candidates were to actually do this instead of spending instead of just going the traditional route of campaigning the way they did the last time, candidates might get more votes. I think this would get a huge following on the web, seeing that all their candidates are actively working to improve their lives and invest within their communities. People would feel like their candidate was actually working to put something back into people’s lives instead of just a tax refund check if you are lucky every year. I believe that the government and the people who work there really aren’t the problem, and actually care about the lives of us ordinary citizens. By doing this kind of campaigning, candidates could choose each day to stay on a particular message that day and give back to the people at the same time whose very votes they are trying to get at the same time. Imagine taking a bus paid for by a candidate instead of just meeting them at a train station, or maybe getting an umbrella outside your office. All these planned acts of kindness might just be able to tip voters in the next election. Also, with redistricting coming up, candidates might have a lot of new constituents to meet, and what better way than maybe attending a community play for free that was able to be put on because a candidate actually invested in the local arts instead of just holding high powered star studded campaign concerts that 95% could never afford to go to.
I’m a political novice who up until a few years ago thought GOTV was just being in favor of TV, (I thought well I’m glad that democrats are in favor of it, because I sure wanted all of my favorite shows to be renewed.) and has struggled to play catchup and figure out how politics exactly works. So thank you for helping to inform me on a daily basis and introduce me to a game that that has been played for longer than any of have been alive.