If I Only Had A Brain: Overcoming The Manipulation Of Celebrity Political Endorsements

The right to vote is a privilege that we have long taken for granted. It has become subject to the indifference of our entitlement rather than being subject to the scrutiny of our responsibility. The important work for this election will not be accomplished by the candidates, or at least it shouldn't be. The most important and essential work for this next Presidential election is to be accomplished by the electorate, the American voter...you and me.

Our tendency is to believe that on November 4, 2008, we will go into the voter's booth, push a button or two, and magically, our candidate , whoever they may be, will be elected to office. When, in fact, the real work must be taking place right now, in the privacy of our homes, as we do the research required to make the best possible decision. The alternative is that we continue to spend months on end being dirtied by political mudslinging while we sit on the sidelines and let the candidates "fight it out". Political campaigns have become sport and we have become spectators. And, this is what we call democracy?

Political campaigning has become a sideshow, of sorts, designed to distract us from the real work we need to do to put forth an honest vote. Candidates for public office, Presidential or otherwise, are not to be sold to us like exercise equipment on a late-night infomercial. We must choose who our personal candidate will be, and not told who they will be. Voting is as much an exercise of freewill as anything. Rights come with responsibilities. We, then, need to be responsible in how we make the decision. In order to exercise our right to vote, it is incumbent upon us to turn away from the glitz and glamour of the political "red carpet" back to the organic nature of true democratic process. We are too far afield of the essence of the democracy, and have become far too enamored with the fame and celebrity overshadowing the candidates.

Exercising your right to vote consists of 4 essential steps:

1. Knowledge of the candidates. Who they are. Why they're running. What they stand for.
2. Understanding of your personal values. What you believe and why.
3. Diligence: Which candidate has most closely demonstrated that he or she values what you value. (Tip: This decision should not be party-based, it should be value-based.)
4. Vote using the information you acquired in completing steps 1-3 above.

Voting is a private decision albeit one that has public rewards or consequences, or both. Our individual votes determine who will decide how we will live as a nation and what our role in the world will be. It is not a decision that should be taken lightly or left up to someone else to make for us because ultimately, the choice is ours and we will be held accountable before GOD for it.

We have minds of our own we need to use them to make the right decisions. We have to stop the cycle of being influenced by another person's world view. Each of us has a world view, and therefore, each of us also has the responsibility of doing some heavy lifting, pitting value to value, between now and the next Presidential election. Our votes should not be based on what someone else thinks or believes. We have the inherent capacity of being able to make informed decisions and we need to use it. We don't need celebrity endorsements, multi-million dollar campaign "war chests", special interests, or any such thing.



When you step into the voting booth in November 2008, it should be just you and your candidate. The only voice in your head should be one telling you that you can confidently vote for the candidate that you believe will, based on your own due diligence, best fulfill the spiritual, intellectual, ethical, and physical demands that will be required of our next President. It's your voice and it's your choice. Choose wisely.

Beware The Danger Of Keeping Candidate Faith On The Down-Low

Much ado is being made over Governor Romney's recent address about his Mormon faith.  And, much more ado should be made.

The American people are perceived as being so politically saavy that the faith of a candidate for President, or a candidate for any other public office, has little or no bearing on their electability.  Platform and politics over prayer.  Spin over spirit.  Facts over faith.  The voting public needs to reconsider its position in the next round of elections, especially as it votes for the next Commander-In-Chief of the United States.  The vote should not be political, the vote should be prayerful which means it will require faith.

If Governor Romney's potential Presidency will not be influenced by his faith then, what will it be influenced by?  Every person has faith at his or her core, even if it is anti-faith.  Everyone's lifestyle has its basis in some personal belief system, otherwise known as faith.  But one who claims a particular brand of faith privately, who is not also willing to confess it publicly, either to their glory or to their shame, must give an account of exactly what belief system will be employed in the rapid-fire mode of Presidential decision-making should they be elected. 

What a candidate knows, as defined by education, experience, and intellect, is important.  But, a candidate's beliefs, as evidenced by their faith, shapes the value system which will serve as the foundation for their ability to govern.  Every candidate should have a basic level of integrity within their composition that demands singularity of purpose.  Any candidate who implies that their choices will not be influenced by their faith is deceived about what faith really is, and as a result, not worthy of a vote.  According to the old adage, stand for something or fall for anything.  It is unacceptable for candidates to have a private life of faith and a public life as a political candidate.  Inevitably, what is practiced and believed in secret, will come to light.  A candidate's personal belief system will be tested and demonstrated on a national level once they are elected.  Therefore, every candidate's faith must be the foundation upon which their candidacy rests.  If this is not the case, they are not fit to run the concession stand at the Friday night football game let alone a country.

The voting public deserves to know what every candidate believes.  The faith question must be answered by anyone who wants to see their name up in lights in November 2008.  The faith declaration must be made, honestly and openly, by every candidate.  Spin-free.  Why?  Because candidates are not robots despite the fact that they, at times, seem to be.  Candidates are human, just like the people who will be voting.  No amount of compartmentalization will prevent them from ultimately responding out of their humanness; this will be particularly true in times of challenge.  In the times of personal or national crisis that are certain to follow the next Presidential election, the incumbent will not persevere because of what they know or how much experience they have had.  Their university, their party, and even their constituents will be unable to see them through.  The only force that any candidate can and will instinctively rely upon in times of tragedy and crisis will be the force of their faith, what they believe, their ideology.  Faith, then, should not be just another issue in the next Presidential election, it must be the issue that decides the next Presidential election.